234. The Chairman informed Members that, since its last meeting, the Council had received a request for observer status in the Council for TRIPS from the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States (ACP Group). The letter from the ACP Group together with its attachments had been faxed to Members on 27 May. An updated list of the now 17 pending requests for observer status in the TRIPS Council by other intergovernmental organizations had been circulated in document IP/C/W/52/Rev.11.
235. He recalled that the Council had discussed these pending requests at its previous meetings, but had not been able to reach consensus on any of them. The consultations he had held prior to this meeting on whether Members could agree on the new request by the ACP Group or whether there had been any developments in their thinking concerning the earlier pending requests had revealed that the situation remained that the Council would not be able to reach consensus on any of the pending requests at this point. Therefore, he suggested that the Council agree to revert to the matter at its next meeting.
