4. The expert from the United Kingdom, Chair of the IWG on UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 Phase 2, informed GRSP about the work progress (GRSP-53-14) of his group. He added that the last meeting of the group had been held on 23-24 April 2013 in Paris and that two further WebEX meetings would be held before the summer to advance the drafting. He explained that as a result of its activities the group agreed on:

(a) An effective head restraint height measurement procedure whose thresholds for an absolute height would be returned to GRSP for final decision.

(b) An appropriate dynamic test, including the test procedure, injury criteria and the associated corridors for the Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy (BioRID II).

6. The expert from the Netherlands introduced rationales (GRSP-53-17) to justify the proposal (GRSP-53-15), for information only, to increase the height of head restraints up to 830 mm in at least one position of head restraint adjustment and not less than 720 mm in any position of head restraint adjustment. He also provided an overview on the measuring method for effective head restraint height (GRSP-53-16). The expert from OICA reminded GRSP that the new measurement procedure would reduce the measured height by 20 mm (therefore making the current limit, as it stands, more severe), and this should be taken into consideration for establishing new height thresholds. The expert from the United Kingdom encouraged cost benefit analysis to justify the proposed thresholds.

4. The expert from Japan, whose country was the technical sponsor of the UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 Phase 2, informed GRSP about the outcome of the last meeting (GRSP-54-30), held on 10-11 September 2013 in (Gothenburg), Sweden, of the informal working group (IWG) developing the draft UN GTR. The expert from Germany, made a presentation (GRSP-54-28) of the workshop held in Bergisch Gladbach (16 July 2013), Germany, aimed at defining a procedure for the test position of the Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy (BioRID II). He added that as a result of the workshop, experts agreed that the use of the Head Restraint Measuring Device (HRMD) was no longer needed for static assessment and BioRID positioning. He concluded that test procedures and injury criteria would likely be finalized in the next meeting of the IWG scheduled for 4-6 February 2014 in Brussels. The expert from the United Kingdom introduced, for information, the latest stage of the draft UN GTR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2013/24) and a draft Addendum 1 (GRSP-54-05) to the Mutual Resolution No. 1 (M.R.1). He explained that a revised official proposal of UN GTR would be submitted by the IWG at the May 2014 session of GRSP as well as a final draft addendum to M.R.1.

4. The expert from the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on the UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 Phase 2, informed GRSP about the work progress of the IWG. He clarified that notwithstanding the progress of the last meeting held in February 2014, outstanding points remained, i.e. on injury criteria. He added that the next meeting had been scheduled on early September 2014, in Berlin. He stated that the IWG had suggested that the issue of the head restraint height would be resolved by GRSP rather than the IWG. He finally announced that a revised official proposal for a UN GTR would be submitted by the IWG at the December 2014 session of GRSP as well as a final draft addendum to the Mutual Resolution No. 1 (M.R.1), to incorporate the Biofidelic Rear Impact Dummy (BioRID II).

5. Finally, GRSP agreed to resume consideration of the draft UN GTR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2013/24) on the basis of final proposals submitted by the IWG and to resume discussion on the height of the head restraints (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2013/17) at its December 2014 session.

4. The expert from the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on the UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 – Phase 2, clarified that the IWG had suspended its activity because of a lack of results on biomechanical criteria. He added that the Chair’s intention was to resume the activity of the IWG and that he would contact the group’s members. He concluded that the Chair of the IWG would inform GRSP at its December 2017 session on the follow-up of activities of the IWG. The Chair of GRSP, on behalf of the expert of the United States of America, informed GRSP that the National Highway Traffic Administration (NHTSA) could possibly re-start correlation testing between dummy and the Post Mortem Human Subjects (PHMS). He volunteered to update GRSP about the plan of NHTSA on this subject at the December 2017 session.

4. The expert from the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 – Phase 2, informed GRSP that for the time being the IWG had not yet decided when to resume its activity. He added that further information would be provided at the May 2018 session of GRSP.

4. The expert from the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 – Phase 2, informed GRSP that the IWG had not made progress in its activities and that no new information for the future development of the UN GTR to report. The expert from the United States of America informed GRSP that the Vehicle Research Testing Center of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) will resume and finalize its testing activity on the injury criteria by the end of 2018.

5. The expert from Germany, on behalf of the Chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on the UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 – Phase 2, made a presentation (GRSP-58-18) on the Group’s progress. He clarified that the IWG intends to proceed with a more empirical approach on the correlation between Post Mortem Human Subjects (PMHS) and Biomechanical Rear Impact Dummy (BioRID). The results would be submitted as a subsequent amendment proposal on injury criteria (perhaps for adoption) at the May 2016 session of GRSP. He also introduced draft UN GTR Phase 2 (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/34 superseding ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2013/24).

6. GRSP, in principle, agreed to change the height requirements of head restraints in ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/34 to take into account ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2013/17.

8. GRSP finally agreed to refer GRSP-58-26 back to the IWG, to incorporate all the comments from ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2015/34, and resume discussion on this subject at its May 2016 session.

6. The expert from the United Kingdom, on behalf of the Chair of the Informal Working Group (IWG) on the UN Global Technical Regulation (UN GTR) No. 7 – Phase 2, clarified that the IWG was following a more empirical approach to determine biomechanical criteria and that alternative methodologies were under study. He reported that the IWG expected to finalize proposals for the December 2016 session of GRSP on UN GTR No. 7 and on Addendum 1 to Mutual Resolution No. 1 (M.R.1) to incorporate Bio Rear Impact Dummy (BioRID) specifications. He concluded that an extension of the mandate of the IWG until March 2017 was needed to complete the final proposals and that AC.3 endorsed this request at its March 2016 session.