32. Following the adoption of the Principles Concerning the Participation of International Non-Governmental Organizations in the Work of the Codex Alimentarius Commission (1999) and in compliance with these Principles, the Secretariat presented a report on the relations with International Non Governmental Organizations. The report included the list and membership of the organizations currently admitted as Observers, and the status of applications submitted to date.[14]
33. The Commission welcomed the preparation of the report as it contributed to the transparency and openness of the process and agreed that it should be presented to the Commission on a regular basis. It was noted that the complete list of Observers was available on the Codex website. It welcomed the proposal to provide additional information on observer organizations and that this information was being collected by the Secretariat by means of a circular letter.[15] 34. The Commission, recalling its earlier decision that meetings of the Commission and its subsidiary bodies should be held in public, noted the importance of facilitating such participation in practice.
