29 November 2001

UN Security Council Renews Iraqi Oil-for-Food Program

United Nations -- The Security Council November 29 voted unanimously to keep the existing sanctions regime on Iraq in place for another six months but agreed that by May 2002 many civilian imports will no longer by subject to UN review.

The existing "oil-for-food" program, in operation since 1996, allows Iraq to sell oil and use the profits to buy food and other humanitarian and civilian supplies, with all imports subject to UN review. The system is to remain in effect until the UN has certified that Iraq has eliminated its weapons of mass destruction and the programs to create them.

By May 30, 2002, the council will adopt a list of import goods still requiring UN review because of their potential for military use, but after that regular civilian commercial goods not on the list may be imported freely, without review.

The vote on the extension of the program marked a change in the council's dealing with Iraq and showed new unity among council members. U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte called the unanimous vote "a very important step forward and another example of strong unity and consensus within the Security Council."

"The most important part of this resolution is that we have an agreed list now -- the so-called goods review list -- that has been made part of the Security Council," Negroponte told journalists after the vote.

"It is an issue on which we had not been able to achieve consensus previously and upon which we reached consensus today. That is an important step forward in terms of the unity of the Security Council vis-a-vis Iraq and I think it sends a signal to Iraq that we are determined to press forward with this program," the ambassador said.

Attached to the resolution are two annexes. One is a 10-page list of proposed items that would have to be reviewed by the Security Council's Sanctions Committee before they could be imported by Iraq. The council indicated that it would continue negotiations on the items and be ready to adopt the list by May 2002. It includes specialized radar equipment, certain engines and fuel cells for underwater vehicles, explosives, advanced telecommunication equipment, specialized electronic instrumentation and test equipment, computer programs, devices specially designed for civil projects but containing quantities of certain energetic materials, specialized semiconductors, and biological equipment for encapsulation of microorganisms and toxins.

The other annex is a two-page list of procedures that would have to be followed when companies apply to the committee for permission to send items on the new review list to Iraq.

When the current phase of the oil-for-food program was about to expire last June, the United States and the United Kingdom pressed for a change in the system to allow Iraq to import civilian supplies more easily by using a goods review list. Facing a Russian veto, the council put off a decision and instead adopted a resolution keeping the old procedures in place.

Russian Ambassador Sergey Lavrov said that the new resolution shows that "the only way to really solve the situation in Iraq is to make sure international (weapons) monitoring resumes in Iraq in conjunction with the suspension and lifting of sanctions."

The resolution states that Iraq is obligated to cooperate on implementing all Security Council resolutions, and it appeals to states "to cooperate in the timely submission of technically complete applications and the expeditious issuing of export licenses and to take all other appropriate measures within their competence in order to ensure that urgently needed humanitarian supplies reach the Iraqi population as rapidly as possible."