E.l.f. Cosmetics has dodged a US$40 million fine by agreeing to pay just under US$1 million to settle a civil liability case for 156 ‘apparent’ violations of the North Korea Sanctions Regulations, according to reports from The Guardian and CNBC.

The mass market beauty brand was found to have imported 156 shipments of false eyelash kits worth US$4.43 million from two Chinese suppliers over a period of almost five years. The suppliers in question had sourced materials for the kits from North Korea.

The brand could have been slapped with penalties amounting to US$40 million for the infraction but the fact that it self-reported and the kits accounted for less than 1 percent of revenue caused the Treasury to be lenient on this occasion.

“During a routine, self-administered audit in early 2017, we discovered two third-party suppliers utilized some materials from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea to produce certain false eyelash kits,” E.l.f. CEO and Chairman Tarang Amin told CNBC.

“We take great pride in doing the right thing and having strong compliance and quality assurance programs,” he continued. “We are continually enhancing our quality assurance program and are committed to ensuring that all of our products are produced legally and responsibly.”