Advances in LED lighting raise the prospects for incorporation of lighting into rear registration plates. In 2004, in response to a proposal for the regulation of such plates under UN R48, GRE determined that illuminated plates were not lamps and therefore were outside the scope of UN R48. The Spanish delegation would like to submit this issue again for the consideration of GRE members in order to have a coordinated and common view on this subject.
19. The expert from Spain invited GRE to provide guidance on the possible use of a rear registration plate the digits of which emit the light themselves by means of light-emitting diodes (LED) (GRE-76-12). He recalled that this issue had been already raised in 2004, when GRE agreed that such a light-emitting rear registration plate was not a lamp and, therefore, did not fall within the scope of Regulation No. 48. GRE reconfirmed its position of 2004 and was of the view that requests for application of such light-emitting rear registration plates should be addressed under the national legislation of Contracting Parties. In this context, the experts from Italy and the Netherlands pointed out that light-emitting rear registration plates are prohibited in their countries.