16. WP.29/AC.2 took note of the status of the development of the Database on the exchange of type approvals (DETA), and the avenues available for its funding and hosting as presented by the Secretariat (WP.29-173-04) as well as the outcome of the meeting of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on DETA (WP.29-173-15) and a proposal submitted by Germany (WP.29-173-13). WP.29/AC.2 recommended that the secretariat, IWG on DETA and Germany present their proposal during the WP.29 session to Contracting Parties (CPs) to the 1958 Agreement as it was made clear that the financing of DETA would need extra budgetary (XB) funding.

14. The 125th session of WP.29/AC.2, (13 November 2017) was chaired by Mr. A. Erario (Italy) and was attended, in accordance with 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 (United States of America), GRSG (Italy), the Chair of the Executive Committee (AC.3) of the 1998 Agreement (Japan), the Vice-Chair of WP.29 (Russian Federation), by the representatives of Canada, Japan, Republic of Korea, United States of America and European Union.

15. The WP.29/AC.2 reviewed and adopted the agenda of the 173rd session of the World Forum. WP.29/AC.2 also reviewed the draft agenda for the 174th session of the World Forum, scheduled to be held in Geneva from 13 to 16 March 2018.

18. The representative of the Task Force for Cyber Security and Over-the-Air issues (TFCS) updated WP.29/AC.2 on the development of the draft paper “Recommendation on Cyber Security of the Task Force on Cyber Security and Over-the-Air issues of UNECE WP.29 IWG ITS/AD”. It aims to define principles/objectives to be obtained to address key cyber risks and threats in order to assure vehicle safety in case of cyber-attacks and detailed guidance or measures for how to meet these principles/objectives. The paper provides recommendations on how the outputs may be used. This includes how it may be taken forward as a regulation or a resolution and, where applicable timelines, for delivery. The representative of the TFCS sought the position of and guidance from WP.29/AC.2 with respect to the presented paper and options proposed in it concerning the development of a resolution or regulation under the 1958 Agreement concerning cyber security and over-the-air issues.

19. WP.29/AC.2 considered the proposed ways forward, acknowledging the merits of a resolution-only process, but raised concerns about the legal application of this approach. WP.29/AC.2 reflected on a possible step-wise approach with the option of establishing a regulation but using the resolution as the technical provisions – at least as a first step. WP.29/AC.2 suggested this should be considered further by the IWG on ITS/AD on Thursday.

20. The secretariat and the representative of the United Kingdom presented proposals on the future strategic direction of the work under the 1958 Agreement. Based on preliminary discussions, WP.29/AC.2 decided to hold initial consultations in a Task Force that would consider strategic issues, including for example the (re)distribution of activities within WP.29 subsidiary working groups in order to accommodate new priorities. Contracting Parties were invited to take part in the preliminary discussions on Tuesday, 14 November 2017 from 5.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. in room XII of the Palais de Nations.

17. The chair of the IWG on International Whole Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA) informed WP.29/AC.2 about the latest developments on finalizing the proposal for the UN Regulation No. 0 on IWVTA. In this context, WP.29/AC.2 reflected on the possible need for amendments to Schedule 4 of Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement to address potential issues with type-approval numbering for certain parts, such as tyres or brake-pads.