A Singapore-based humanitarian organization has been granted a sanctions exemption to donate COVID-19 testing kits and related items to local hospitals in North Korea by the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) sanctions committee.

According to the United Nations (U.N.) website updated on Thursday, the 1718 Sanctions Committee granted a waiver to the Singapore Red Cross as “part of the COVID-19 prevention and control activities of the DPRK Red Cross Society.”

Exempted items listed include equipment and testing kits for COVID-19, as well as parts for medical instruments, such as rotors and PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tubes.

The 1718 sanction committee’s