43 Countries Accuse North Korea of Violating UN Cap on Oil Imports
Forty-three countries accused North Korea of violating a United Nations cap on refined petroleum imports and asked the U.N. to end all oil shipments to North Korea until year-end, Reuters reported July 24. The countries -- including the U.S., the United Kingdom and France -- told the U.N. that North Korea used illegal ship-to-ship transfers to import more than 1.6 million barrels of petroleum January through May. The countries asked the U.N. Security Council to issue a determination that North Korea has surpassed its annual cap of 500,000 barrels and to “inform member states that they must immediately cease selling, supplying, or transferring refined petroleum products to [North Korea] for the remainder of the year,” the report said.
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The countries also asked the council to urge states to “exercise enhanced vigilance regarding” North Korean attempts to continue to illegally import petroleum. The U.S. recently issued an industry guidance on illegal shipping practices by North Korea, Iran and Syria, which details attempts to evade sanctions through illegal ship-to-ship transfers, falsified cargo documents and disabled automatic identification systems (see 2005140039).