The United Nations has granted the International Cable Protection Committee (ICPC) consultative status that will allow it to attend special interest meetings and international conferences affecting the subsea cable community as well as to provide written and oral submissions during relevant U.N. meetings.

A press release said that the news means that the ICPC will no longer need to seek sponsorships or special accreditations to participate in U.N. activities. Earlier this year, ICPC appointed Squire Patton Boggs associate Alice de Juvigny as its United Nations Observer Representative (UNOR). She will now also carry out all responsibilities associated with the U.N. consultative status, it said.

Formed in 1958, ICPS’s primary goal is to promote the safeguarding of international submarine cables against man- made and natural hazards. Its forum includes technical, legal and environmental information about submarine cables. It has more than 170 members from some 60 nations, including cable operators, owners, manufacturers, industry service providers, as well as governments.