New Russia-US adoption deal to come into force
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Buy SPH photosWASHINGTON (AFP) - A new US-Russia pact comes into force next month to strengthen adoption safeguards after several cases of abuse of Russian children by their adoptive American families sparked an outcry.
The bilateral agreement takes effect on Nov 1, and the State Department said it was working to "promote a safe, ethical and transparent adoption process" for parents, families and children.
It follows more than two years of negotiations after a Tennessee woman sent her seven-year-old adopted son alone on a flight back to Russia with a note saying he was violent and she could not care for him.
The special adoptions agreement was signed by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton with visiting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in July 2011, and signed into law in July this year by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
