US, Russia hold talks to ease trade restrictions

As a first step toward persuading U.S. Congress to repeal the controversial Jackson-Vanik amendment, Russia must lift bans on poultry and pork imports from the U.S., Commerce Secretary Gary Locke was quoted in The Washington Post.
Locke's remarks came after two days of discussions with Russian officials during President Obama's visit to Moscow. The 1974 Jackson-Vanik amendment prohibits trade relations with communist countries that restrict emigration.
However, Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch, said Russian trade concessions alone will not persuade Congress to repeal the amendment as it sees Jackson–Vanik as a tool for expressing disapproval of human rights abuses in the former Soviet nation.