52. The representative of Japan, Chair of the IWG on IWVTA, presented the Draft General Guidelines for United Nation regulatory procedures and transitional provisions in UN Regulations (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2017/107, Corr.1 and Add.1). These guidelines aim to streamline future work in the subsidiary bodies, to clarify the procedures following Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement and to ensure “good regulatory practice” by providing clarifications to avoid divergence in the understanding of Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement and the application of UN Regulations. The World Forum noted the intention of the IWG on IWVTA to further consider a number of amendments recommended by Contracting Parties and by the Working Parties for consideration at the next sessions of WP.29.

53. WP.29 adopted ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2017/107, Corr.1 and Add.1, as amended below:

“Paragraph 6.1., shall be deleted.
Remove all square brackets in the document, and keep the proposed text.”

53 bis. The representative of the Russian Federation noted that the proposal to delete item 6.1. would require additional elaboration verifying legal consequences, therefore the Russian Federation reserved its position on the issue.

53. The representative of Japan, on behalf of the Chair of the IWG on IWVTA, presented the draft General Guidelines for UN regulatory procedures and transitional provisions in UN Regulations (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2017/67). The document aimed to streamline the future work in the subsidiary bodies, to clarify the procedures following Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement and to ensure “good regulatory practice” by providing clarifications to avoid divergence in the understanding of Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement and the application of UN Regulations. The document also was largely based on the existing guidelines (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1044/Rev.1), but updated them in order to reflect Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement. Finally, the IWG on IWVTA was considering the possibility to transform, in the future, this guidance document into a new Schedule to the 1958 Agreement.

54. WP.29 noted Corrigendum 1 to ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2017/67 to align the French version to the English and Russian versions and endorsed the document. WP.29 further agreed to correct the current version of the guideline document, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1044/Rev.1, and requested the secretariat to publish a Corrigendum. The World Forum also noted other amendments submitted by the IWG on IWVTA (WP.29-172-11) and from the representative of EU (WP.29-172-16).

55. Following the discussion, WP.29 did not fully endorse the proposed amendments and agreed to keep them in square brackets, subject to a final review by each Working Party that is subsidiary to WP.29, by the IWG on IWVTA, and by the secretariat. Each Working Party is invited to submit the result of final review to the Technical Secretary of IWG on IWVTA and UNECE Secretariat by the end of October 2017 at the latest. WP.29 agreed to consider ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2017/67 and Corr.1, with the proposed amendments contained in by WP.29-172-11 and WP.29-172-16, for adoption at its November 2017 session and requested the secretariat to circulate the proposal as a consolidated document with a new symbol by the end of June 2017.