A UN report says that its sanctions are effectively delaying the expansion of North Korea’s illicit nuclear arms program.

The report said that although financial sanctions, an arms embargo and international trade restrictions have failed to halt North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic missile programs, the measures have considerably delayed Pyongyang’s timetable.

It also said that the imposition of financial sanctions and bans on weapons trade have choked off the North’s financing channel.

In the latest annual report, the UN sanctions-monitoring group recommended sanctioning three more North Korean institutions and 12 more individuals. The institutions are the Ministry of Atomic Energy Industry, the Munitions Industry Department of the Central Committee of the Korean Workers Party and the State Space Development Bureau.

The report was submitted to the UN Security Council’s committee on sanctions against North Korea.