but from moscow this is r.t. and this just in the u.n. monitoring mission in syria is now getting some major reinforcement the security council has just unanimously voted to send three hundred observers in a last ditch attempt to prevent all out civil war and that's the media reports of the truce violations by both the rebels and government troops. there's a media blackout in france right now this just ahead of sunday's presidential poll ten candidates including being company. out of fight it out for the top job in a country hit by social divisions on record unemployment. and energy hungry china

works to secure a slice of the arctic riches the chinese premier on a tour of the nordic states hoping to win support for beijing to tap into the mineral resources hidden beyond the ark. my colleague gold gold is here in half an hour's time but for now our discussion is why the jackson vanek amendment that's been restricting commerce with russia since the soviet era is still in place despite years of negotiations this is artsy.

hello yellow welcome to spotlight the interview shout out to our troops we're not going today my guest is very i was. off it's a decades of tough negotiations russia has finally been admitted to the w t out they've remained silent geneva will be ratified this summer but even full membership doesn't clear all the obstacles on the way to free slaves one of them is the jackson browne a commandment which stands in the way i'll fetch trade relations between russia and the united states with future rushed american trade is widely discussed later today we'll talk it over with. the president of the us russia business. the jackson benny commandment has long been a thorn in russia you ask operation it was introduced at the height of the cold war

the soffits denies normal trading relations with countries that restrict freedom of immigration and human rights the u.s.s.r. has long been gone but the names and places are rarely called more hostile time. president obama and many american businessman are calling for it to be repealed especially as he has russia's being admitted to the world trade organization but some republicans want to leave just something you can place as a reminder to russia. it's human rights. hello and welcome to the show thank you thank you very much for being with us thank you very well first of all will the russia's w.-t. own membership expected. to become final this summer will it have any immediate effect on the volume of bilateral trade i think you'll have some. want to overstate it but we think we're going to

a study that was very well known. macroeconomic research institute united states that we could see a doubling of our exports to russia or over a five year period well now let's find out what russians think of the countries there will be membership spotlighting going to be there but what out into the streets of moscow to ask people's opinions. how throughout the eighteen years russia was trying to get its double luteal membership there was be to debate inside the country on whether it needed that membership but we all know that russia has finally been accepted into the world trade organization the dispute on whether it will benefit or damage the country's economy still goes on so let's hear one russians expect from the country's w.t. your work session it's not just the store but he says the russian economy will get foreign investment will start producing goods which will be sold abroad and will be

able to say goodbye to all dependence on green materials. all what if question i think we should never have entered the w t o at all we would perfectly well without it you know it's still just wonderful should i expect life to become dancing people to get new opportunities competition is always healthy as for the technical details they are so complicated and so little talked about in the media but i can't see anything about them. i expect cars to get cheaper but. i expect riches attention to that if we want you to give us a move freedom in communicating with the rest of the world i hope it will lead to easing or abolishing usury games with europe in the united states. i think it will ruin russia especially its agriculture which is going to be seen as a consumer i expect the quality of goods to improve in presence to come down that's what everybody wants but i guess many purchase with the same difficulties is they

will have to play by the new routes and i believe this would be a serious examiner for russian the industry and russian companies in fact history shown is not. really good for them now because of but it missed ration. because they depend much of the administration that now there will be another challenge. i would see the competition. with the foreign companies there will be a very challenge for our companies those were the opinions of the people on the streets of moscow and we've got you with me here and she's got a question for our guest this it sounds russia is a number of people stumble u.-t. how does this mean we'll see more foreign companies in russia. well that's a question for you will we see more foreign companies. i would expect so. many companies may have been on the sidelines waiting decide. if they wanted to invest here and i think that was

a factor that would lead them to decide to do something here but you said yeah you said on the first question that the expectations the double gym membership. they are overestimated what did you mean by the mean in russia or borrow or why both sides well when you asked you said would happen immediately i was thinking perhaps in terms of what the effect would be on consumer prices. and bear in mind that russia over the period of transition to complete compliance with the will lower its average care of rate from about ten percent to about seven point eight who lives and that doesn't sound like much of. the outliers really extreme there are some very high rates on certain products and one of the gentlemen there mentioned here we go or think of lady who has said that she'd like to be able to buy a car that was during the transition period which has been negotiated

especially for the automobile sector is concluded in about seven years tariffs will be down to a much lower level than what they are today so her access will be increased because what people really are expecting the are expecting prices to go down because people travel to europe a lot they travel to the states and they see things that cost less and the average i if we take a new car it costs in russia nearly twice as much as cost of the united states and people what that did to to go down well there are rumors that the car on the new can work and the prices will go up in april and may want well why is that going to have any idea. where. and it doesn't make sense to me. there is as i mentioned a transition period of seven years for the automobile sector in russia to come into for compliance with the need to go standards and that's a period that will. help the russian domestic industry including. foreign

brand manufacturers in russia to improve their their technology to increase the efficiency of their plants and at the end of that period if they haven't succeeded in that well they're going to be faced with the four brunt of of the international market though let's talk about the just then a commandment i just would remind our viewers that it was introduced. against the u.s. the song by the american commentary when the u.s. says sorry didn't let jews freely have a great israel that was ages ago the country the us the sun no longer exist but the amendment is still there well i mean this it makes sense russia joining the deadly t. o. united states signing an agreement that the jackson very commitment is still there it's nonsense isn't it we don't think makes a lot of sense to every u.s.

administration since the clinton administration wanted to abolish it and they couldn't for some reason well there wasn't a compelling reason we have a most favored nation agreement in place well i'll give you one no one best reason all the jews that wanted to go i mean there's no right. there wasn't a compelling reason in the past or since science in ninety two when russia was declared to be ready for whenever it occurred to be in compliance with jaxon van and both its requirement. for a free market economy and for free movement of people. but as long as we have this bilateral agreement and in long as russia was not a member that there wasn't a compelling reason as soon as it became apparent that russia would join the euro there was an imperative for. the united states to lift the jackson ban of

a minute because it means while it's in place we cannot extend unconditional. permanent normal trade relations to russia and that's a requirement of the. it means that if it's still there every agreement every deal must be made as an exception to the right well you know i think it means that we continue to operate as we have under this business m.f.m. most favored nation agreement that we have in place but we will not. say we. need clear by foreign minister lavrov that any country which does not automatically extend m.f. and status to russia will not enjoy the benefits of russia's accession agreements that only refers to the united states new things or this program where it may become history before the presidential election in the states or the other things

to do well i'm going to be optimistic and say i think that it could be lifted by doing by the end of the current congressional session that is sometime by sometime in july i would. guess another question listen will russia when it will become a full fledged member of the senate would get a possibility to see the united states over this and then restricting free trade. not that i'm aware i don't i mean we extend those formally we have this right i mean. lawsuit. i don't believe so no ok now. do you agree that the. jensen think an amendment is mostly is mostly defended by the so called big chicken.

no i think that i think that there is a understanding and awareness that now that russia is going to be a member of the w.t. you know it doesn't provide any leverage in our trade negotiations with russia and that's what the degree even is what we've got and as long as jackson vanocur remains in place we're not going to be able to avail ourselves of the concessions if you will that russia has made as part of its negotiation process and that includes the adoption of. international norms science based standards for the importation of agricultural products so now american agricultural exporters to russia have every reason to want us. to live jaxon van and as a matter of fact the poultry producers association is a member of the coalition for u.s. russia trade which comes under. u.s. r.b.c.

and is the lobbying organization in washington for the so so they are they are in agreement with those of us who are saying it is time to lift jackson banning american chicken is no longer anti russian that in reality. is the president of the us russia should the spotlight will be back shortly after a break so stay with us who can think this interview in less bad and. one. hundred of them living here.

in forty acres and ninety ninety three and decided it would be a great place to find themselves a home to retire. their sheer. we call it our new neighbor neighbor nine o seven. we have seventy acres and i can convince them that they need to drill somewhere besides two hundred feet from. the needs of our growing economy also means expanding our domestic production of oil and natural gas which are vital fuel for transportation electricity and manufacturing this is before any problems with it before we do radical. change. in our flows are not toxic than we did a lot of there's a lot of mis understanding of what is actually in the flow it's. time does it get

come out here in the lab you come out here and live in my house for a week. i have no rights. welcome back to felt like i love and just a reminder that my guest on the show today's advair run for president of the u.s. russia business council and so a you stated just a minute ago that there are no war anti soviet or anti russian chicken and the

united states i mean probably true yeah so so so the chicken lobby isn't the power that's behind those who fight for what the jackson command but the congressman who opposed the lifting of trade restrictions against russia they according to to what i read in the press they and they express anger over the russian curbs on u.s. paultry and other meat products and the poor in force went in russia intellectual property rights well i thought that these things i mean i mean russia did have a history of problems. with this but they are supposed to have been solved when we were. going to join the w t o so so so i would have thought that the that these problems are really history on the not because there are parts of the. accession agreements that deal with those issues i

mentioned being. cultural norms and standards of all sanitary fair cemetery standards. as a portion deals with intellectual property rights. all of the commitments that russia has made under its. accession agreement will be enforceable only once russia joins and and so it's in our interests to. enable our owners of intellectual property or our exporters of agricultural products to be able to. hold russia to the standards that it. committed itself to so. there may be people who don't fully understand. what jackson danny represents what it stands for with history there may be others who are not perhaps fully familiar with even the. front of the deal me. or maybe some and not everybody is an expert on trade and i mean this is an exceptional case is now we're

the largest economy outside of the you know that's and three after a long process of negotiation russia so. what we've been doing. on capitol hill is explaining to members of congress their staff to the staff of the committees that have jurisdiction over this matter what deputy you know is what jackson vandyck is how jackson van it will impede our ability to take advantage of the concessions that russia has made and i think they're coming around to that view i don't and i don't meet many people today who after what we have done over the past two years in particular over the past three months who don't acknowledge now that it is in our economic interest to lift jaxon van is it correct me if i'm mistaken but from what you're saying i'm getting the impression that the reason for which the amendment is still there is is not economic not political but rather regular is what you're talking about it's probably

a group of people just don't understand the importance don't understand what stands behind it and don't instead of importance of. lifting this is a truce. so that there's no there's no political will behind that and no and no economic reason to keep it is that true there's no economic reason to keep it there there may be some who aren't as familiar with the issue and in many cases those may be people who don't sit on a committee that has jurisdiction for now virtually every member of congress who sits on on one of the two direct committees of direct jurisdiction which of the house ways and means committee in the senate finance committee know what what it entails so i wouldn't i wouldn't suggest that they are ignorant of the facts so that maybe people including there are political reasons. to i mean what what specs of the political of the political class maybe may be against him as well i don't

know you can you can break it down into a political faction or game of the names. i mean there are people on both sides of the of the political spectrum the united states who are concerned about other issues relating to russia that they argue the jaxon van it was adopted as to deal with a human rights question a punishment for you it was meant as to cement russia to allow free immigration i meant to say the soviet union. and and that has been achieved the fact that it as i mentioned hasn't been lifted is probably a result of inertia if there's not a compelling reason to do something in any legislature you're probably not going to do that was going to spend the political capital to accomplish it now there is and the political will you mention that there is a political will the administration of nine states has said that this is its top

trade priority in two thousand and twelve and they have said so in testimony on the hill president obama made reference to china to russia in the in his state of the union message so it is important and. and i can tell you from my dealings with people in congress they understand they don't want to put american business at a disadvantage but it was seen by many jaxon van as the gold standard of human rights legislation it accomplished a great deal and there are many who say if we lift this now in effect we are perhaps giving an unintended signal to russia that we think it is now. a good player in the area human rights democracy rule of law just crossed my mind. is a possibility that somebody in the congress and some people in the car with said ok . well the problem with jewish immigration is long gone but let's use the jackson family commitment in order to protect

a gay rights something like that and maybe they keep keep it to try to use it again as in the summer for protecting our the other residents and. this is one of those well i don't think it works out any leverage. you know it's the specific language you know jackson it refers to immigration and it refers to free market economies that's it those two conditions really was there anything else i mean you maybe it means the that it could be used within. the political process in the united states to achieve something related to russia but not directly pertaining to emigration and in this case as i go back to saying that there are there are concerns among members of congress about human rights democracy rule of law in russia and many of them are saying if we're going to be removing something that has a very great symbolic significance there should be something in its place. that

demonstrates. concern about what's happening in russia and i could be more specific if you wish. the vice president biden said last year that i quote . the value of goods that crosses the u.s. borders with canada mexico every few days exceeds the annual u.s. trade with russia some experts say that the polishing of the jackson gallic amendment with regard to russia could boost bilateral trade ten fold do you agree especially estimation i've said earlier you know we don't want to overstate the benefits we're not trying to sell something on an exaggerated claim of what it's going to accomplish i think but i said earlier that the doubling of u.s. exports within a five year period is pretty significant accomplishment i mean that's that's that's a lot of growth and we've in the end of that period we've still see as

a relatively small proportion of our trade with russia much less than what i think . is a potential so ten times over well why not but i don't want to go that far that's going to be somewhere down the road and who knows what's going to happen in the global economy and three now and then i'm. sure mr mcferrin last year he said the following i quote in my opinion he says this is not true that the jackson family commitment gives washington some means to pressure on moscow and anachronism cannot serve as a real political instrument of pressure and quote well actually he says he he he says confirms what used to sell. those that mean that today this in london has no political meaning at all. oh they said it may be. it may serve as political leverage

a bargaining chip within our own political system there are your where are perhaps the. senator cardin is bill. pertaining to say good luck. there are now thirty three. including the senator himself thirty three co-sponsors of that legislation in the senate so they feel very strongly about that in a b.b. saying we are going to lift jackson family but we won't do it unless we have something we can put in its place that will have a similar. power to effect positive change in the human rights dimension in the gay thank you very much and just a reminder as that time yesterday here was time throughout our presidents are the u.s. russia business cards and that's safe enough for all of us if you want to have your sales process lost without someone in monte anytime soon as you explore and you

know how it will turn out what can be done wrong and that's the spotlight interact to be back with more of these uncommon times was healing handed out from russia and from banks state on t.v. taking.

there hasn't been anything yet on t.v. . used to get the maximum political impact of. the food source material is what helps keep journalism honest we.