MOSCOW, July 31 - RAPSI. President Vladimir Putin has submitted a treaty to the State Duma for ratification on combating the laundering of proceeds from crime and the financing of terrorism by moving cash and financial instruments through the customs border of the Customs Union, the Kremlin's press service reported on Tuesday.

The treaty was signed in Moscow on December 19, 2011, by the Russian, Belarusian and Kazakh presidents.

First Deputy Head of the Federal Customs Service Mikhail Malinin was appointed the president's representative during the consideration of the treaty by the State Duma and the Federation Council.

According to current legislation, at the moment the customs authorities cannot stop the transfer of cash or financial instruments if they suspect it is somehow connected with laundering illegal income or financing terrorism.

The treaty established that customs authorities will be granted this power if they receive relevant information from law enforcement authorities or financial monitoring bodies.