Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed its completed assessment of the World Food Program (WFP) procedures to monitor and report on U.S. government-donated food aid to North Korea.

GAO noted that: (1) U.S. policy is that no food aid will be provided to North Korea if it cannot be adequately monitored; (2) WFP has established procedures to track and monitor food aid deliveries in North Korea; (3) however, the North Korean government has not allowed WFP to fully implement its procedures and, as a result, it cannot be sure that the food aid is being shipped, stored, or used as planned; (4) specifically, the North Korean government, which controls food distribution, has denied WFP full access to the food distribution chain and has not provided required reports on food use; and (5) consequently, WFP cannot be sure it is accurately reporting on where U.S. government-donated food aid is being distributed in North Korea.