On October 11, 2012, the Russian Government submitted (by means of Resolution 1895-) to the State Duma, the lower house of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation, a draft federal law "On Amendments to Article 7 of the Federal Law on the development of agriculture".
The draft federal law is part of the action plan of the Government of the Russian Federation aimed at adapting the individual sectors of the Russian economy to the conditions of membership of the Russian Federation in the WTO. The draft federal law foresees state support for agricultural production and sustainable rural development with a special emphasis on disadvantaged agricultural areas.
The draft defines the term "disadvantaged agricultural areas" as regions which, due to their climatic conditions, socio-economic, soil and geographical factors, have an economic rate of return lower than the sector's average.