33. The expert from France, Chair of the IWG on Enhanced Child Restraint Systems (ECRS), gave a presentation (GRSP-62-28) on the work progress of the draft 03 series of amendments to the UN Regulation (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/41). He also introduced GRSP-62-20, covering definition and provisions for lower tether strap and lower tether anchorages. ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/41 received several comments and amendments including transitional provisions that were adapted according to ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2017/107. GRSP adopted ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/41 as amended by Annex VII to the session report. The secretariat was requested to submit the proposal as draft 03 series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 129 for consideration and vote at the June 2018 sessions of WP.29 and AC.1. GRSP requested the secretariat to distribute GRSP-62-20 with an official symbol at the May 2018 session of GRSP.

35. The expert from France, Chair of the IWG on Enhanced Child Restraint Systems (ECRS), gave a presentation (GRSP-61-28) on the work progress of the IWG on amendments to the UN Regulation. He explained that ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/15 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/16 were aimed, amongst others, at introducing provisions for ECRS equipped with impact shields as such restraint systems were not yet covered by the 01 and 02 series of amendments. The expert from CLEPA gave a presentation (GRSP-61-33) showing concerns on the proposals tabled by France. The expert from OICA raised concern on the increased head excursion (840 mm) during the dynamic test on rearward-facing CRS. The expert from France finally introduced GRSP-61-15-Rev.1 and GRSP-61-16-Rev.1 superseding respectively ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/15 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/16 and including the comments received. GRSP adopted ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/15 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/16 as amended by Annex VI to this report. The secretariat was requested to submit the proposals for consideration and vote at the November 2017 sessions of WP.29 and AC.1 as part (see para. 34 above): (i) draft Supplement 3 to the 01 series (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/15) and (ii) Supplement 2 to the 02 series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 129 (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/16).

36. The expert from France introduced GRSP-61-17-Rev.2, superseding ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2017/17 aimed at introducing the third phase of the UN Regulation which is meant to introduce “Universal belted” and “Specific vehicle belted” category of CRS. He further explained that the basic principle of Phase 3 was to reach a compromise from misuse and bad installation and having as much as possible seat places to install CRS where ISOFIX anchorages cannot be allocated. Moreover, GRSP noted the request of guidance to Contracting Parties proposed in GRSP-61-28 concerning: (i) which kind of combinations of ECRS should be allowed (e.g. ISOFIX and Universal Belted) (ii) under which conditions and (iii) guiding principles. The expert from the Netherlands raised concerns on “inserts” used on CRS to adapt them to the size of the occupant. He stated that inserts should be identified (labelled with identification and with size information) and that requirements should be devised to prevent camouflage of bad CRS. The expert from the United Kingdom supported the principle of a performance-based approach and requested more data on misuse. However, he shared the concern of the expert from the Netherlands. The expert from IC stated that ISOFIX had the priority to avoid misuse while other solutions and combinations with ISOFIX were just secondary and should be limited. The experts from Germany and Sweden raised a study reservation and stated that “plug-and-play” solution was the key principle for having a simple and efficient system; while now the ECRS IWG was opening to combinations that could have misuse implications.

37. GRSP agreed to resume discussion on Phase 3 of the UN Regulation at its December 2017 session on the basis of more data analyses. In the same time, GRSP referred back to the IWG GRSP-61-17-Rev.2 and invited representatives of Contracting Parties of the 1958 Agreement to participate in the 21-22 June meeting of the IWG to cover the request of guidance mentioned above.