Tajikistan asks the US to cancel Jackson-Vanik Amendment

During a meeting in Washington Tajik foreign minister Sirojiddin Aslov asked Chairman of the US House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Europe, Eurasia and Emerging Threats Dana Rohrabacher to cancel the Jackson-Vanik Amendment for Tajikistan.

Since 1974, the amendment has been applied to countries restricting freedom of emigration and other human rights (the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam and Albania) and has made those countries ineligible for normal trade relations, programs of credits, credit guarantees, or investment guarantees, or commercial agreements.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the amendment was cancelled for Georgia, Armenia, Ukraine, Russia, Moldova and Kyrgyzstan, but is still in force for Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.