MOSCOW, June 22 (RAPSI) – President of Russia Vladimir Putin has signed a bill providing for the legalization of parallel imports of goods into law, according to the official website of legal information. 

The initiative was adopted by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, on June 21 and approved by the Federation Council, the upper house, the day after.

According to the State Duma Committee on Economic Policy, the document is to ensure both the interests of domestic consumers of products of foreign companies that have left the Russian market, and in general will contribute to the development of the Russian economy in the context of the sanctions policy applied against the Russian Federation by unfriendly countries.

In early May, the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation published a list of more than 50 categories of goods that will be available for parallel imports. It included a variety of items: from plants to medicines, from soap to weapons. 

The law is to protect Russian companies that import goods without the permission of the copyright holder from possible civil, administrative and criminal liability.