123. The Chair of the IWG of Safer and Cleaner Used and New Vehicles (SCUNV), gave a presentation on the recent activities of the group, WP.29-192-20, where he highlighted the recent meetings of the group, showing the work that has been done and the various tasks forces. He presented the first output from the group as the informal document WP.29-192-21 and asked for feedback from WP.29 and, if accepted, requested to WP.29 to convert this document into a formal document for the June 2024 session of WP.29.

124. The representative of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland noted the importance of the work of the group and posed the question as to whether the IWG on SCUNV included in their list the inspection of Classical and Historical Vehicles and whether the group considered an exemption policy.

125. The Chair of the IWG of SCUNV asked the delegate from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to share, if possible, the statistics related to vehicles within this category as this might aid the discussions within the group when they move forward with the processes of how to inspect.

126. The Secretary of WP.29 thanked the Chair of the IWG for the presentation and noted that he believed the presentation addressed the question from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland by noting requirements for inspection only covered elements from when the vehicle was new.

127. The representative of Cameroon commended the IWG on SCUNV on their work and noted that the subject of the group was of particular importance to his country as Used Vehicles constitute a large percentage of vehicles in Cameroon. He further noted that the inspection of used vehicles should be a mutual endeavour both at the departure point and the arrival point. He added that he looked forward to working with the IWG on SCUNV and the subcommittee on New Vehicles to help in the facilitation of the knowledge from the regional perspective. He concluded by noting that safety on the roads was a matter of concern for all parties and if the situation was improved it would therefore improve the quality of the market.

128. The representative of OICA stressed that the goal is not to check under which regulations the vehicle was approved originally, but to ensure that the vehicle was sufficiently safe and clean to be considered as roadworthy.

129. The representative of the United States of America and Vice-Chair of the IWG on SCUNV agreed with the comments by the representative from OICA noting that the aim was to ensure the roadworthiness of vehicles. He noted that he was speaking on behalf of one of four Vice-Chairs, with the other Vice-Chairs being Kenya, Nigeria and The Netherlands. He also noted that with respect to classic and historic vehicles the process for determining roadworthiness should include some exemptions. He further added that the aim was to have a core set of requirements in order to raise the level of roadworthiness of vehicles imported by the importing countries. He also commended the participation by Cameroon and encouraged their further participation in the group also noting that the intention of the group was to have meetings in Africa and hybrid/virtual meetings in order to facilitate global participation and engagement.

130. The representative from the Russian Federation thanked the chair of the IWG of SCUNV for the presentation and questioned whether there were any plans to include considerations for vehicles which may have had components changed during the life cycle of the vehicle.

131. The chair of the IWG of SCUNV responded that these items would be addressed in the next phase of the discussions on the work of the group. He encouraged those delegates with an understanding of PTI to participate in the group as this would help with the development of the next phases of the work of the group.

132. The representative of Cameroon added that vehicle parts were of interest to his country as well as issues related to the safe importation of used tyres or second-hand tyres including issues around waste management to address the full cycle of the products. He also added that there was a knowledge gap that needs to be addressed adequately by working closely with relevant authorities and stakeholders at the national level, considering the limitations of low and middle-income countries in various areas such as the repairs of vehicles with electronic parts.

133. The chair of the IWG on SCUNV agreed with the comments from the representative from Cameroon relating to the waste management issue faced by most importing countries. He noted further that even though the group’s primary focus right now was on African countries that there are similar problems experience by Latin American countries and there should be more done to encourage participation from these countries.

134. The Chair of WP.29 thanked the chair of the IWG on SCUNV for the presentation and WP.29 agreed with the request of the group to distribute WP.29-192-21 as formal document at its June 2024 session.