28. The expert from Japan introduced a proposal for the 03 series of amendments to Regulation No. 53 with a new requirement for automatic switching from the daytime running lamp (DRL) to the headlamp (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2016/35, Informal document GRE-76-03). The experts of Finland, Germany and EC supported the proposal. The experts of France, Italy and UK identified technical issues which would need further attention. GRE agreed to revert to this issue at the next session. GRE also noted proposals by the expert from India (GRE-76-06). GRE invited experts to review these proposals and to send their comments to the author before the next session.

24. The expert from Japan provided additional explanations to their proposals for the 03 series of amendments to Regulation No. 53 regarding a new requirement for automatic switching from DRL to the headlamp (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2016/35 and GRE-77-19). The experts from India and Italy commented on the proposals (GRE-77-09 and GRE-77-17).

25. The experts from Italy, Netherlands and IMMA requested more time to study the proposals and comments. The expert from EC recalled that this matter had already been considered at three consecutive sessions of GRE without a conclusion. He called for the establishment of a task force to tackle the issue. The experts from Japan, India, Italy, Netherlands and IMMA expressed their willingness to participate in the task force. GRE hoped that it would be able to finalize the consideration of the proposals at the next session without establishing a task force. To this end, the Chair urged all experts to study the proposals and provide their comments prior to the next session.

7. On behalf of the Informal Working Group ‘Simplification of the Lighting and Light-Signalling Regulations’ (IWG SLR), the expert from GTB reported on the progress and schedule of IWG SLR (GRE-78-34) in preparing the three new simplified UN Regulations on Light-Signalling Devices (LSD), Road Illumination Devices (RID) and Retro-Reflective Devices (RRD). He presented a draft LSD Regulation (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2017/9), amendments to Regulations Nos. 48, 53, 74 and 86 that group the definitions and introduce references to the new simplified Regulations (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2017/10, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2017/11, GRE-78-11, GRE-78-12, GRE-78-13, GRE-78-14, GRE-78-15 and GRE-78-20), and the new transitional provisions to Regulations Nos. 3, 4, 6, 7, 19, 23, 27, 38, 50, 69, 70, 77, 87, 91, 98, 104, 112, 113, 119 and 123 (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2017/13). The expert from India commented on the IWG SLR proposals (GRE-78-26).

8. GRE agreed that the new UN Regulations and the necessary amendments to the existing Regulations should be adopted as a package, possibly at the next session. GRE was of the view that all definitions should be moved to one place and that Regulation No. 48 would be the best choice for that purpose, in spite of the fact that not all Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement applied this Regulation. GRE also agreed, in principle, that the transitional period to start the application of the new UN Regulations should be twenty-four months, as proposed by IWG SLR in the draft transitional provisions. GRE decided to revert to this issue once the timeline for the entry into force of the new UN Regulations was known, and which depends on IWG SLR progress.

9. The expert from Germany drew the attention of GRE to the non-availability of the electronic database for the exchange of type approval documentation (DETA) and the Unique Identifier (UI) at the time of the entry into force of the new UN Regulations (GRE-78-27). This might create difficulties for applying approval markings and would make the full benefits of SLR impossible to reap. GRE agreed that the new UN Regulations should include a substitute solution of quasi-traditional approval markings pending the availability of UI.

10. On behalf of IWG SLR, the expert of GTB presented a new concept of “change index” which aims to adapt and simplify the traditional approval markings in the context of the new LSD Regulation (GRE-78-35 and Rev.1). In particular, he proposed a table that lists all devices covered by the LSD Regulation and indicates the series of amendments with the most stringent requirements for each device. Following an in-depth discussion, GRE felt that having in the approval marking both series of amendments and a change index would be superfluous. A number of experts spoke in favour of indicating the series of amendments only, preceded by the Regulation number. The expert from UK pointed out the need to study how the proposed solution would work for extension of type approvals. The Chair requested IWG SLR to address this issue and invited the expert from UK to contribute.

11. GRE requested IWG SLR to consult the European Committee of Associations of Manufacturers of Agricultural Machinery (CEMA) about the draft amendments to Regulation No. 86. GRE also noted that IWG SLR would consult the IWG on the International Whole Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA) about the approval markings for the new LSD Regulation.

34. On behalf of the Special Interest Group for DRL of L-category vehicles, the expert from Japan proposed a new requirement for automatic switching from DRL to the headlamp for L3 category (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2018/19). The expert from India suggested deletion of the wording “passing beam” from the text (GRE-79-20). Some GRE experts supported in principal ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2018/19, but expressed concerns about the proposed introduction of a new category of daytime running lamps with the maximum luminous intensity of 700 cd. GRE invited experts to send their comments to the Special Interest Group and agreed to continue consideration of the proposal at the next session.

81. WP.29 noted that GRE considered and adopted a set of amendment proposals on the use of LED substitute light sources for light-signalling applications and would continue considering LED substitutes for front-lighting applications. WP.29 was also informed that GRE had adopted new series of amendments to UN Regulations Nos. 10 (Electromagnetic compatibility) and 53 (Installation of lighting and light-signalling devices for L3 vehicles).

28. On behalf of the Special Interest Group for DRL of L-category vehicles, the expert from Japan presented a revised proposal that introduced a new requirement for automatic switching from DRL to the headlamp for L3 category in UN Regulation No. 53 as well as a corresponding amendment to the new LSD UN Regulation (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2018/50). The expert from India proposed to delete references to “passing beam” (GRE-80-25). The experts of Germany, Netherlands, UK and EC were not in favour of deleting “passing beam” and supported the original proposal. GRE adopted the proposal and requested the secretariat to submit it to WP.29 and AC.1 for consideration at their June 2019 sessions as draft 03 series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 53 and draft Supplement 1 to the original LSD UN Regulation, subject to the following amendments:

Paragraphs 5.11.1.1., 5.11.1.2. and Annex 7 (twice), replace “headlamp [(passing beam)]” with “passing beam”.

Paragraphs 11.8. and 11.10., remove square brackets around 2023.

19. The expert from IMMA recalled the draft 03 series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 53 adopted at the previous session of GRE (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2018/50 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/80, para. 28) and proposed to restore the original automatic headlamp requirement for vehicles not equipped with daytime running lamps (DRL) (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRE/2019/12). GRE adopted the proposal and requested the secretariat to submit it to WP.29 and AC.1 for consideration at their November 2019 sessions as part of the draft 03 series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 53. The expert from EC was not in a position to support the proposal.