Granting Russia permanent normal trade relations (PNTR) status requires a change in law because Russia is prohibited from receiving PNTR under Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974. Title IV includes the so-called Jackson-Vanik amendment free emigration requirements. After 19 years of negotiations, Russia joined the WTO on August 22, 2012. 6156 , which does just that, among other things. The legislation also included provisions—the Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012—that impose sanctions on individuals linked to the incarceration and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. H.R. 6156 also authorized PNTR status for Moldova. President Obama signed the legislation into law on December 14, 2012. "Normal trade relations" (NTR), or "most-favored-nation" (MFN), trade status is used to denote nondiscriminatory treatment of a trading partner compared to that of other countries. It authorized the President to grant PNTR by proclamation. On November 16, 2012, the House passed (365-43), and on December 6, 2012, the Senate passed (92-4) H.R. To fulfill that commitment, the United States would have to extend PNTR to Russia. It also contained other provisions that required: 
the USTR report annually to the Senate Finance Committee and the House Ways and Means Committee on Russia's implementation of its WTO commitments, including sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) standards and IPR protection and on acceding to the WTO plurilateral agreements on government procurement and information technology; the USTR report to the two committees within 180 days and annually thereafter on USTR actions to enforce Russia's compliance with its WTO commitments; the USTR and the Secretary of State report annually on measures that they have taken and results they have achieved to promote the rule of law in Russia and to support U.S. trade and investment by strengthening investor protections in Russia; the Secretary of Commerce to take specific measures against bribery and corruption in Russia, including establishing a hotline and website for U.S. investors to report instances of bribery and corruption; a description of Russian government policies, practices, and laws that adversely affect U.S. digital trade be included in the USTR's annual trade barriers report (required under Section 181 of the Trade Act of 1974); and the negotiation of a bilateral agreement with Russia on equivalency of SPS measures.
U.S.-Russian trade is governed by Title IV of the Trade Act of 1974, which sets conditions on Russia's normal trade relations (NTR), or nondiscriminatory, status, including the "freedom-of-emigration" requirements of the Jackson-Vanik amendment (Section 402). Changing Russia's trade status to unconditional NTR or "permanent normal trade relations status (PNTR)" requires legislation to lift the restrictions of Title IV as they apply to Russia and authorize the President to grant Russia PNTR by proclamation. On November 16, 2012, the House passed (365-43), and on December 6, 2012, the Senate passed (92-4) H.R. 6156, which does just that, among other things. The legislation also included provisions—the Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act of 2012—that impose sanctions on individuals linked to the incarceration and death of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. H.R. 6156 also authorized PNTR status for Moldova. President Obama signed the legislation into law on December 14, 2012.
PNTR for Russia became an issue for the 112th Congress because, on August 22, 2012, Russia joined the WTO after having completed a 19-year accession process. The WTO requires each member to accord newly acceding members "immediate and unconditional" most-favored-nation (MFN) status, or PNTR. In order to comply with WTO rules, the United States had to extend PNTR to Russia.