2. The Chair of the World Forum welcomed the representatives to the 176th session of World Forum and introduced the opening speakers: Mr. Yuwei Li, Director of the UNECE Sustainable Transport Division, Mr. Jean Todt, United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety and His Excellency Mr. Ulugbek Lapasov, Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations.
20. The representative of South Africa thanked Mr. Todt. He stated that South Africa aspired to adopt all other UN Regulations under the 1958 and 1998 Agreements that had not been adopted upon its accession to the agreements, and to ensure that the country comprehensively participates in activities of the World Forum and its subsidiary groups. He invited the Special Envoy to visit South Africa and to support a comprehensive application of the 1958 Agreement, which would also allow the country’s administration and industry to fully apply the E47 mark. He mentioned that the neighbouring countries, Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, could also benefit from becoming signatories to the United Nations vehicle agreements, and invited the Special Envoy and the World Forum to support them in the process.
3. The Director, Mr. Li welcomed the participants to the World Forum. He underlined the magnitude of impact that the work of the World Forum has in implementing the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, particularly, in the goals related to good health and well-being, climate change mitigation and sustainable urban development. He highlighted the link between the work on automated and autonomous vehicles with Sustainable Development Goals related to industrial development and innovation.es in intergroup collaboration.
4. The Director reminded participants that efforts in the international harmonization of vehicle regulations and the domestic application of United Nations vehicle regulations have been identified as key actions for achieving progress in vehicle safety. As a pillar of the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety, 2011-2020, this imparts towards meeting recommendations contained in numerous United Nations General Assembly resolutions, that were adopted in recent years and call for concerted global and domestic efforts to improve road safety.
5. Mr. Li recalled the establishment in 2018 of the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund and its Global Framework Plan that targets the development of national road safety systems. He emphasized that vehicle regulations are an important component of national road safety systems, and that the World Forum’s work on developing and harmonizing vehicle regulations is indispensable for designing sound national road safety systems.
6. The Director commended the World Forum for being a pioneer in ECE when it opened its agreements for global membership and started providing global services. He underlined the goal of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) in its 2030 strategy to open other agreements under its purview for global membership as part of the effort of the international community to improve the safety, efficiency and environmental performance of transport systems. He underlined that the ITC 2030 strategy is a platform through which the World Forum can expand its regional and global membership.
7. Mr. Li highlighted the potential of the World Forum to address challenges in the global road transport industry, particularly, the severe shortage of professional drivers. He stressed that this is a strain on the industry and negatively impacts economic development worldwide. He said that the activities on automated vehicles are considered as promising for tackling the challenges stemming from the shortage of professional drivers.
8. The Director further added that the World Forum’s activities in vehicle automation also may contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to climate change, pollution and road safety by setting relevant and sound technical standards for road vehicles. He stressed the potential of automation to improve road safety but cautioned that automated vehicles may entail risks. He thus identified the most important role of the World Forum in ensuring road safety in the context of vehicle automation, namely assisting contracting parties and the industry, by developing regulations which ensure that automated vehicles realize their potential for positively contributing to road safety and simultaneously remedying risks carried by applications of vehicle automation technology.
9. In conclusion, Mr. Li called for continuing cooperation between Global Forum for Road Traffic Safety (WP.1) and WP.29 in developing technical standards and legal provisions for automated vehicles. Cooperation in vehicle automation would enable the development of technical standards for applicable technologies and their deployment on roads, and positively impact the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
10. The Chair of the World Forum thanked the Director for his statement. He summarized the main activities of WP.29, especially the scope of work for improving vehicle safety and environmental performance, and the activities in vehicle automation, which require the dedicated attention of the World Forum. The Chair stressed the importance that the World Forum dedicates to activities directed at improving the safety and environmental performance of vehicles, as well as matters related to the developing field of vehicle automation. The Chair of WP.29 also echoed the position of the Director on the importance of cooperation between WP.1 and WP.29 in traffic rules and vehicle automation. He highlighted the results achieved thus far in the spirit of good cooperation between the two groups, i.e. the amendments to respective legal instruments that pave the way for further regulatory progress in vehicle automation. He also described the steps taken to secure continued positive cooperation, i.e. the establishment of the joint Executive Task Force for Vehicle Automation, the aim of which is, inter alia, to secure productive cooperation and positive solutions in the face of possible challenges in intergroup collaboration.
11. The United Nations Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Road Safety, Mr. Todt greeted the participants of the World Forum and expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to again address the World Forum. He praised the delegates and experts from all over the world for their work and continuing commitment to the safety and security of vehicles. He alerted delegates that statistics that are expected to be released by the World Health Organization in the coming months would not reflect a decrease in the number of road fatalities, as aimed for in the United Nations Decade of Action, 2010-2020, but rather an increase to 1.36 million lives lost each year. He stressed, in this context, that as the deadlines of the Decade and Goal 3.6, to halve the number of road fatalities and injuries by 2020, loom closer, the vehicle safety-related activities of WP.29 are becoming evermore essential.
12. The Special Envoy described his mission, to promote coordinated action towards improved road safety at global, regional and national levels, including accession to and implementation of the 1958, 1997, and 1998 Agreements as part of his core message to high-ranking government officials. He commended a number of actions in the work of the World Forum on improving road safety. The Special Envoy highlighted the proposed amendment to UN GTR No. 9 of the 1998 Agreement, which is on the agenda of the Executive Committee (AC.3), for increasing the effectiveness of pedestrian safety protection. He stressed that 270,000 pedestrians lose their lives on the world’s roads each year, accounting for 22 per cent of the total road traffic deaths. The Special Envoy underlined that this amendment was a step forward in making cars safer, with the ultimate aim that the most likely consequence of accidents, which UN GTR No. 9 aims to mitigate the impacts of, in the future, be limited to minor injuries. Moreover, he asserted that this amendment would provide further regulatory convergence that will result in improving trade.
13. The Special Envoy acclaimed the increased accession to United Nations legal instruments serviced by the World Forum by countries in Africa and Asia. He applauded the collaboration of WP.29 with his secretariat in their joint efforts in Latin America to facilitate subregional dialogue on improved vehicle safety, with consideration of the 1958, 1997 and 1998 Agreements and more specifically, Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement. He also commended Uruguay for its leadership in that initiative. He cautioned nevertheless that Latin America remained largely unengaged and that it should be considered a priority region for promoting United Nations agreements on vehicle construction in the following two years, which could help address the major issue of poor vehicle safety in the region and consequently, the high levels of road casualties.
14. The Special Envoy stated that the challenge to reduce road traffic fatalities is growing alongside increasing motorization rates and the evolution of the automotive industry, and that support and commitment from the industry is very much needed to achieve milestones in improving road safety. He recalled informal document WP.29-170-28, prepared for the 170th session of WP.29, on consultations to establish an automotive industry voluntary commitment, which advocated for the voluntary commitment of manufacturers to minimum standards for vehicle safety. He called on the automotive industry to consider that approach because adopting minimum safety standards would mean that their consumers around the world would benefit from an internationally endorsed minimum level of vehicle safety. He stressed that such a commitment would be better in the long-term for business and would save lives on the road. He called on the industry to step up its efforts towards establishing such a voluntary commitment. The Special Envoy stressed that only by aligning the efforts of all stakeholders and through complementing each other’s activities can progress towards the shared responsibility of securing a safe and sustainable future be accelerated. He strongly expressed his commitment to continue working alongside ECE and other partners to internationally promote United Nations vehicle agreements.
15. In conclusion, the Special Envoy informed delegates about the recently established United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund, which aims to support government efforts to strengthen national road safety systems. He encouraged governments, international organizations, NGOs and the industry to support the fund.
16. The Chair of the World Forum thanked the Special Envoy for his participation in the session of the World Forum and for his intervention and expressed the gratitude of the World Forum for promoting its work and its vehicle agreements throughout the world.
17. The representative of the Republic of Korea, Vice-Chair of GRSP, expressed appreciation for the Special Envoy’s efforts in improving road safety at a global level. He described his country’s experience and road safety performance in the last 30 years, a period marked by rapid economic growth and motorization. In 1991, the number of traffic death reached 13,429, but then continuously decreased to 4,185 in 2017. The country’s road traffic death rate per 100,000 persons had decreased from 31 to 8.1, a 75 per cent reduction. He explained that the Republic of Korea had, since joining the 1958 and 1998 Agreements, improved many practices. One of the main factors behind the significant reduction in road traffic fatalities in the country during the preceding 20-year period was that UN Regulations and UN GTRs, such as frontal impact, side impact, pedestrian safety, Electronic Stability Control, and Advanced Emergency Braking System, had been applied since the Republic of Korea joined WP.29. He underlined that, given that the share of pedestrian fatalities in road traffic accidents was nearly 40 per cent, the Republic of Korea was the one of the first countries to introduce a pedestrian safety standard in December 2008, just after the establishment of UN GTR No. 9.
18. The representative of the Republic of Korea further informed delegates that his country had joined the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund as a member of the Advisory Board and expressed his support for the Secretary General’s Special Envoy’s closing remark, inviting governments, organizations and industries to support the United Nations Road Safety Trust Fund.
19. The Special Envoy on Road Safety thanked the representative of the Republic for Korea for his statement and the information about his country’s improvement in road safety. He encouraged the Republic of Korea to share their positive experiences and practices that have led to a significant improvement in the country’s road safety performance for the benefit of countries in the region.
21. The Special Envoy stated that South Africa had a key role in promoting United Nations vehicle regulations throughout the African continent, and shared information about ongoing contacts of his secretariat with the highest officials in the country to prepare his visit in 2019.
22. The Permanent Representative of Uzbekistan to the United Nations, H.E. Mr. Lapasov thanked the ECE Sustainable Transport Division for assisting Uzbekistan in acceding to the 1998 Agreement. He reaffirmed the willingness of Uzbekistan to work with all interested parties towards the successful implementation of the objectives set out in the agreement, and especially to establish a global process for developing UN GTRs on safety, environmental, energy efficiency and anti-theft performance of wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts. He informed the World Forum that the Uzbek Agency for Standardization is the contact point for issues related to the agreement. H.E. Mr. Lapasov invited countries that are not yet contracting parties to the agreement to accede. Moreover, he expressed gratitude to the Special Envoy for the work done and admiration for the achievements of the secretariat of the Special Envoy during its mandate. His Excellency stressed that an enormous amount of work has yet to be done in improving global road safety and stated that Uzbekistan will work with the secretariat of the Special Envoy and other relevant stakeholders towards these goals. His Excellency concluded by extending an invitation from his Government to the Special Envoy to visit Uzbekistan.
23. The Special Envoy thanked His Excellency and took due note of the invitation.
24. The Chair of the World Forum thanked the representative of Uzbekistan for his statement.
25. The representative of Global NCAP expressed appreciation for the support and efforts of FIA and the ECE secretariat to help and support the work of his organization. He also appreciated the leadership to achieve a voluntary industry commitment. Moreover, he expressed hope that a commitment would include front and side impact occupant protection (UN Regulations Nos. 94 and 95), Pedestrian Protection (UN Regulation No. 127 and UN GTR No. 9) and Electronic Stability Control (UN Regulation No. 140 and UN GTR No. 8) provisions.
26. The Special Envoy thanked the representative of Global NCAP, supported his comments about the need to work with automotive manufacturers, and to advocate for their voluntary commitment to safety standards concerning equipment in vehicles, especially in the countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America where road safety performance is unsustainable. He urged government representatives at the World Forum to implement more stringent standards for vehicles, and for their engagement and support in advocacy efforts to secure the voluntary commitment of automotive manufacturers to safety standards.
27. The representative of OICA stated that a voluntary commitment would be difficult to achieve due to reasons of competition and economy. He stressed that manufacturers focus on mandatory national requirements for the construction of vehicles. The representative mentioned discussions on the possibility of developing a United Nations resolution on establishing mandatory national requirements in countries that have not enacted such legislation. He emphasized the readiness of the industry to support a process of establishing national mandatory requirements, provide input and to develop a clear roadmap of requirements that should be put in place.
28. The Special Envoy reiterated his position that it is the responsibility of the industry to produce and sell vehicles in accordance with minimum safety standards, and that existing discrepancies in the safety equipment in vehicles sold in Europe or in the United States of America with the same vehicle models of the same manufacturers sold in Africa, Asia or Latin America are unacceptable.
29. The Chair of the World Forum concluded the opening session by recalling the recent revision of the 1958 Agreement. The revision allows flexibility for the contracting parties in applying regulations under this agreement without mandating application of the latest series of amendments: initial access would be to a minimum level of stringency in safety and emission standards — a level that corresponds to the circumstances of a contracting party — while providing the possibility for subsequently increasing stringency towards the state of the art.