The UN Security Council has approved the biggest overhaul of sanctions against Iraq in years, aimed at expediting civilian goods to ordinary Iraqis from sewing machines to bicycles.
The vote was unanimous, 15-0, with Syria, Iraq's neighbour, deciding at the last minute to support the resolution despite earlier objections that delayed the vote.
The council's resolution also renews until November 25th, the oil-for-food plan that allows Baghdad to sell oil and purchase food, medicine and a host of other goods under UN supervision.
Responding to criticism that sanctions were harming the Iraqi people, the United States and Russia, which wants sanctions suspended, negotiated for months on a system aimed at sending civilian supplies to Iraq more quickly while maintaining a ban on military goods.
Central to the new plan is a 300-page goods review list of supplies that have military and civilian uses, from trucks to communications equipment, which have to be evaluated separately within 30 days. Most goods not on the list can go to Iraq after a 10-day review by UN officials.
Currently, virtually everything but food and medicine is scrutinised by the council's sanctions committee where the United States has blocked $5 billion worth of goods Iraq has ordered.