12. The 123rd session of WP.29/AC.2, held on 13 March 2017, was chaired by Mr. A. Erario (Italy) 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.1-2), by the Chairs of GRB (France), GRE (Belgium), GRPE (Netherlands), GRRF (United Kingdom), GRSP (USA) and GRSG (Italy), the Chair of the Executive Committee (AC.3) of the 1998 Agreement (Japan), by the Vice-Chairs of WP.29 (Russia), and by the representatives of Germany, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United States of America and the European Union (EU).

13. The WP.29/AC.2 reviewed and adopted the agenda of the 171st session of the World Forum. WP.29/AC.2 also reviewed the draft agenda for the 172nd session of the World Forum, scheduled to be held in Geneva from 20 to 23 June 2017.

14. AC.2 discussed the first UN Regulation covering automated driving functionalities. Automated Commanded Steering Functions were covered by the 02 series of amendments to Regulation No. 79. The representatives of the Contracting Parties participating in AC.2 took the view that WP.29 would be an appropriate forum to discuss this issue and, in particular, the implementation dates to provide for highest level of safety. The representative of the EU expressed their preference that the transitional provisions take effect not later than 2021.

15. The representative of the United Kingdom, co-chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on / Intelligent Transport Systems and Automated Driving (ITS/AD) proposed that the WP.29 hold preliminary discussions on the issue of regulatory definition of “automated” vehicle, and discuss the issue in more detail during the WP.29 June 2017 session. The representative of the EU supported the proposal of the United Kingdom. AC.2 agreed to hold preliminary discussions on the matter on 14 March 2017 under WP.29 agenda item 2.3.

16. The representative of Japan reported on the progress of the IWG on International Whole Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA) highlighting the list of UN Regulations applicable to IWVTA and the Questions and Answers (Q&A) documents, both on IWVTA and on Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement as well as on the amended Draft General Guidelines for UN regulatory procedures and transitional provisions in UN Regulations.

17. The secretariat informed AC.2 on the decisions of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) relevant for the work of WP.29. The ITC decision No.22 requests that financing for the Database for the Exchange of Type Approval (DETA) must be secured through the regular UN budget. The Chair of the ITC will bring this request to the attention of EXCOM during the upcoming session on 24 March 2017.

18. The secretariat updated AC.2 on the situation related to the consolidation of regulations following the staff cut and its effect on the services provided to WP.29. The representatives of Contracting Parties expressed their concern about the current situation related to the secretariat’s human resource situation and expressed their full support for overcoming these resource constraints. The representatives of the Contracting Parties emphasized that the secretariat’s work on the consolidation of regulations is very important in order for national type approval authorities to interpret regulations correctly. The EU proposed to bring the need for overcoming this staff resources issue to the attention of the appropriate level of the United Nations.

19. The representative of the EU informed AC.2 that they are not in position to vote on technical regulations to be listed in the Compendium of Candidates for global technical regulations (WP.29 agenda item 5.3) because of a momentary lack of the necessary mandate.

20. The representative of the Russian Federation informed AC.2 that the ninth session of AC.4 would be held on 15 March 2017, if quorum can be established. The secretariat informed AC.2 that Contracting Parties should nominate the Chair and Vice-Chair of AC.4. The representative of the Russian Federation confirmed that their delegation would nominate a candidate.

21. The secretariat reminded GRs to inform them about any new abbreviations brought into use in their documents. The respective document on the WP.29 website would be updated by the end of March 2017.