Now, as worldwide attention to the effects of sanctions has decreased, thehumanitarian situation has worsened. Even as cumbersome bureaucratic procedures for approving imports weresupposedly streamlined, the monetary value of "holds" (contracts held up by some nation on theSanctions Committee, almost always the United States) is at $4.7 billion, higher than before smart sanctionswere proposed. Worse, because of a retroactiveoil-pricing scheme recently implemented by the United States (oil companies don't know what price they'll payfor Iraqi crude until after it is loaded), Iraqi oil exports are way down; in August, exports averaged 800,000barrels per day, compared with more than 2 million at earlier points. This funding shortfall means Iraq isunable to pay even for some approved humanitarian imports.