THE Rudd government is edging closer to ratifying an agreement between John Howard and Russia's then president Vladimir Putin to sell uranium to Russia.

The agreement, which was made on the eve of the 2007 election and would boost Australia's export revenue by up to $1 billion a year, was put on ice almost immediately after the Rudd government was elected as Russia's invasion of Georgia provoked international outrage.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson announced yesterday they believed the agreement provided sufficient safeguards. .

The government has rejected the findings of a Labor dominated parliamentary committee, which urged that the deal be postponed indefinitely.

The committee gave greater weight to environmentalists and political opponents of Russia than it did to the government's own submission.