53. The Chairperson recalled that the Council had asked the eight organizations, whose requests were pending before the Council and had already been considered at previous meetings, to provide information relevant to the criteria contained in paragraphs 3 and 4 of the procedures relating to the grant of observer status for international intergovernmental organizations. So far, such information had been received from three of these organizations, namely the African Regional Industrial Property Organization (ARIPO), the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) and the Office de la Vigne et du Vin (OIV), and made available to delegations at previous meetings.
54. The Chairperson said that he understood from the informal consultations that he had held on the pending requests that Members felt that the situation on the general issue of observer status had still not been sufficiently clarified to justify a decision on any pending request, not even from an organization that had only requested observer status in the TRIPS Council. He proposed that the matter be reverted to at the next meeting.
