8. The 113rd session of WP.29/AC.2 was held on 11 November 2013, chaired by Mr. B. Gauvin (France) and was attended, in accordance to Rule 29 of the terms of reference and rules of procedure of WP.29 (TRANS/WP.29/690 and Amends.1 and 2), by the Chairs of WP.29 (France), GRB (France), GRE (Canada), GRSP (United States of America), GRPE (Germany), GRRF (United Kingdom), GRSG (Italy), the Administrative/Executive Committees of the three agreements administered by WP.29 (France, the Russian Federation and the United States of America), by the representatives of the European Union, Japan and the United States of America and by the Vice-Chairs of WP.29 (Russian Federation), GRSG (Hungary), GRPE (India) and GRSP (Republic of Korea).

9. The Committee reviewed the draft agenda of the 161st session of the World Forum and recommended the amendments as indicated in para. 6 above. The Committee also recommended that agenda item 5.1 be considered by the World Forum and that the rest of the agenda items of the 1998 Agreement be considered by the Executive Committee of the 1998 Agreement (AC.3). It was also recommended that the Administrative Committee of the 1997 Agreement (AC.4) not convene. WP.29/AC.2 also reviewed the draft agenda for the 162nd session of the World Forum, scheduled to be held in Geneva from 11 to 14 March 2014.

10. The Administrative Committee AC.2 noted that all the GRs had elected Chairs and Vice-Chairs for the year 2014.

11. The Administrative Committee noted the recent adoption by the ECE of guidelines and procedures for ECE bodies and for the election of the Chairs and Vice-Chairs for the Bureau (E/ECE/1464, Appendix V, available here). AC.2 recalled that the election of officers for WP.29 and its GRs were made in conformity with the Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedures of WP.29. Therefore, no change to the current election process was deemed necessary. AC.2 underlined the need of having well-experienced Chairs and Vice-Chairs to correctly fulfil the tasks of WP.29 and its subsidiary Working Parties.

12. The Chairs of the GRs considered the possible granting of revisions and extensions of the Type Approvals granted in conformity with the UN Regulations annexed to the 1958 Agreement. It was recommended to delete the part related to revisions and extensions from ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2013/126 awaiting the final Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement to maintain consistency.

13. AC.2 noted the outcome of the joint International Telecommunication Union (ITU)/ECE workshop on “Intelligent transport systems in emerging markets – drivers for safe and sustainable growth” (27 June 2013, ITU Headquarters, Geneva), as noted in the report of the previous session (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1103, paras. 23-24) and the Action Plan).

14. AC.2 welcomed this action plan that highlights the role of globally harmonized standards and the importance of this work to improve road safety. To ensure the continued engagement between WP.29 (and its subsidiary bodies) with the ITU, AC.2 recommended that WP.29 extends an open invitation to the ITU to attend future sessions of WP.29 as a means of collaborating in the pursuit of closer alignment of future standards and regulations.

15. The Committee considered the issue of patented technologies. AC.2 agreed that patented technologies could improve vehicles safety and reduce emissions, but that in principle patented technologies should not be incorporated, as such, in the UN Regulations, UN GTRs and UN Rules. The Committee recommended to overcome this situation by continuing efforts to prescribe performance based requirements in the framework of UN Regulations, UN GTRs and UN Rules.

16. The Committee noted the delay on the translation of the legal text of UN Regulations, UN GTRs and UN Rules and their amendments, as well as the report of the June 2013 session of WP.29 in French.

17. The World Forum adopted the report of the Administrative Committee on its 113th session and its recommendations.