A panel of experts said in a recent United Nations report that sanctions on North Korea are having "unintended consequences" on humanitarian programs in the nation.

The panel of the UN Security Council committee overseeing sanctions on North Korea said in the report that UN agencies and humanitarian organizations continue to experience unintended consequences on their humanitarian programs that make it impossible to operate normally in the North.

In the report released last week, the panel said the six main areas of concern include delays in receiving exemptions and customs clearance, a decrease in willing foreign suppliers and diminished funding for operations.

The annual report recommended that the sanctions committee apply more flexible standards in reviewing sanctions exemption requests for humanitarian programs for the North.

It also suggested that the sanctions committee publish "a whitelist" of certain non-sensitive items used in humanitarian operations and make efforts to streamline and simplify the application process.