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Russia, others may be exempt from annual U.S. test
WASHINGTON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - The Bush administration has started consulting Congress on removing Russia and six other former Soviet republics from the list of countries for which the United States links normal trade with emigration policies, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said on Friday.
Under the Jackson-Vanik amendment, passed in 1974 during the Cold War, the Soviet Union and other communist countries could not have normal trading relations with the United States unless they could show that they did not restrict emigration.
The requirement to pass the annual test has been a regular irritant in trade relations with Russia and abolishing the requirement would be a gesture of good will toward Russian President Vladimir Putin, a U.S. official said.
Boucher said the six other countries which the Bush administration wants off the list are Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Tajikistan and Ukraine.
Georgia and the three Baltic countries have already been exempted.
In practice, the United States has certified in recent years that the countries do have open emigration policies.
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