The group considered doc. REC-14-07, which is the review by the German delegation (see above pt. 6) of REC-14-04. There was some discussion on the Transitional Provisions. The GRPE secretariat will be asked for advice regarding the minimum time between versions 00 and 01 to apply. There was some discussion on the application of the REC 01 version or 00 version in the Contracting Parties (CPs) in the European Union under the 1958 Agreement.

Martinez said that in his view the European Council will have to make a decision on the use of REC in the EU and its Member States but noted that there is some (legal) uncertainty around this. Baarbé asked for Commission guidance document on the applicability of the future REC Regulation in Europe and its Member States. He said that therefore he will probably write a letter to the EC’s Mr Jean in his position of REC chairman on how the future REC should be implemented in Europe, and how retrofit schemes may relate to low emission zones and taxation of road use. For the CPs outside the EU this seems clearer as the general applicability rules for UN Regulations will count. He stressed the need of better guidance from the EU Commission (cf. guidance on fiscal incentives). Öhlund said that REC is for vehicles in use and that here the national subsidiarity rules are to be applied.

The final working document will be uploaded as REC-14-15 for further commenting in due time for it to become an informal document for the next session of GRPE in June 2013.

a) Flow charts for REC- version 00 (informal document GRPE-66-06)

There were no comments on the flow charts; these will be included in the informal document.

b) Draft Amendment 01 to the draft REC Regulation (Informal document GRPE-66-07)

In addition to the proposal for [20%] NO2 increase, the chairman proposed that there should be a paragraph prohibiting the ‘turning’ of DPF elements (so as to blow ash out) by ensuring that the design is such as to prohibit turning.

Williams commented that the Regulation does not currently specify documents to be provided to the operator by the installer, such as an installation certificate or even the contact details of the installer for traceability, and asked whether this would be of benefit. The chairman said that this had been discussed in Berne. As the Regulation comprises approval of the systems, there can be a requirement to provide installation instructions, but requirements cannot be set for third parties (i.e. the installers). Williams suggested that could be a pro-forma that installers could use, rather than a direct requirement on the retrofit supplier. The chairman concluded that Europe could provide a guidance document but this should not be part of the UN regulation.

There were no further comments on the document.

35. The Chair of the REC group illustrated ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRPE/2014/4, as updated by GRPE-68-17-Rev.2, containing a proposal for the 01 series of amendments to the UN Regulation on REC. This includes a revision in the definitions of the REC devices, stricter limit values (reduction levels) for REC systems, transitional provisions for the type approval of REC systems that meet the requirements of the REC Regulation in its original form, as well as a revision of the test sequence for particulate reduction and the equivalence matrix for the UN Regulation No. 49 standard series.

36. GRPE adopted ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRPE/2014/4, as amended in the informal document GRPE-68-17-Rev.2, and requested the secretariat to submit the resulting proposal to WP.29 and AC.1, for consideration at their June 2014 sessions as the 01 series of amendments to the UN Regulation on REC.