Security Council 1718 Sanctions Committee Approves Updates to Notice on Exemption Procedure for Humanitarian Assistance to Democratic People’s Republic of Korea
On 30 November 2020, the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1718 (2006) approved updates to its seventh implementation assistance notice entitled “Guidelines for Obtaining Exemptions to Deliver Humanitarian Assistance to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea”, which was adopted by the Committee on 6 August 2018. The updated implementation assistance notice provides additional guidance on the humanitarian exemption mechanism and is available on the Committee’s website in all official languages of the United Nations (https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1718/implementation-notices and https://www.un.org/securitycouncil/sanctions/1718/exemptions‑measures/humanitarian-exemption-requests).
The Committee approved the updates to the implementation assistance notice to assist Member States and international and non‑governmental organizations carrying out humanitarian assistance activities in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea for the benefit of its civilian population and to improve the delivery of humanitarian assistance to the country. The Committee’s implementation assistance notice is intended to provide a clear explanation of its comprehensive humanitarian exemption mechanism, as authorized in paragraph 25 of Security Council resolution 2397 (2017), by offering guidance and recommendations on how to submit humanitarian exemption requests to the Committee in accordance with the relevant resolutions.
Through the comprehensive humanitarian exemption mechanism, as outlined in the implementation assistance notice, the Committee may, on a case‑by‑case basis, exempt any activity from the measures imposed by these resolutions if the Committee determines that such an exemption is necessary to facilitate the work of such organizations in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, or for any other purpose consistent with the objectives of these resolutions.
Through these updates to the seventh implementation assistance notice, the Committee seeks to further simplify several areas of the application process for humanitarian exemptions requests. These include, inter alia, extending the standard duration for exemptions from six to nine months, allowing for greater flexibility in the shipment consolidation process, providing additional guidance on the requirements and format through which humanitarian exemption requests can be submitted to the Committee for approval, including two optional application templates, and the introduction of a best practices process for applicants of humanitarian exemption requests. In addition, the Committee extended its practice of expedited approval procedures to include extension and amendment requests, as well as urgent requests for onset emergencies such as pandemic outbreaks and natural disasters.
The implementation assistance notice reminds that all international or non‑governmental organizations requesting exemptions from the Committee must fully observe relevant regulatory and licensing requirements of Member States that have jurisdiction over all aspects of the proposed transactions and involved parties.