156. The Chairperson said that the Council had eleven outstanding requests for observer status from intergovernmental organizations before it. The only new development in this regard was that, in response to a request by the Council at its last meeting, the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity and the South Centre had submitted additional information.
157. He said that, at its last meeting, the Council had agreed that, while it should be appreciated that horizontal issues existed, further informal consultations would be held to see if any requests could be dealt with in a way that would not impact on these issues. However, following these consultations, he was not in a position to make any specific suggestions for how the Council might respond to the different requests. He would therefore continue his consultations, having regard for the consideration being given to the general issue of observer status by the General Council.
