2. The Chairperson said that the Council had received a new request from UNEP for observer status and that there were now 16 outstanding requests from intergovernmental organizations (IP/C/W/52/Rev.8). At the previous meeting, the Council had decided to seek further information from the WHO concerning its application for observer status. The WHO had responded by means of a letter dated 11 May 2000. In the light of the informal consultations he had held on the matter, he suggested that the Council accept the request of the WHO for observer status and that the Secretariat be requested to write to UNEP seeking information in accordance with the guidelines for decisions on the grant of observer status (WT/L/161/Annex 3).
