WP.29-162-18
Principles for Supplements, Series of amendments and Revisions to UN Regulations

Overview by the Forum secretariat of changes to the guidelines for amendments to UN Regulations to address concerns over multiple/parallel series of amendments being in force at the same time.

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Excerpts from session reports
GRPE | Session 69 | 5-6 Jun 2014

39. The IWVTA Ambassador reported on the progress made by the IWG on IWVTA and the availability of the draft UN Regulation No. 0 (WP.29-162-04). He highlighted the ongoing discussion on the relevant content of lists A and B for UN Regulation No. 0, noting that UN Regulation No. 85 was in list A and that both UN Regulation No. 101 and WLTP were listed in List B. He echoed the comments made by the Chair on WLTP (see para. 10 above).

40. The secretariat also reported on the progress made on draft Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53) and referred to WP.29-162-12-Rev.1 as well as WP.29-162-18. He added that the draft Revision 3 of the Agreement included some new elements:

(a) Allowing Contracting Parties to grant type approvals according to former versions of UN Regulations;

(b) Triggering the mandatory application by Contracting Parties of new series of amendments to UN Regulations on a common commencement date (e.g. 1 September each year). These elements would permit to yearly collect into a single amendment to UN Regulation No. 0 all newly adopted amendments to existing UN Regulations and new UN Regulations;

41. The secretariat added that the Group was proposing to better follow the definitions of Supplements and series of amendments to ease the IWVTA process and that a set of amendments to a UN Regulation would only be permitted once a year. He concluded that guidelines for transitional provisions (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1044/Rev.1) would be amended accordingly.

42. The GRPE Chair clarified that no further action was needed from GRPE at the moment.

GRSP | Session 55 | 19-23 May 2014

42. GRSP noted that the consideration of draft Revision 3 to the 1958 Agreement (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53) was scheduled for the June session of WP.29 as well as other pending issues such as: (i) proxy vote, (ii) the final list A of draft UN Regulation No. 0 and (iii) common commencement dates for new series of amendments to UN Regulations. GRSP noted WP.29-162-18 introducing principles for supplements, series of amendments and Revisions to UN Regulations. GRSP finally agreed to move UN Regulation No. 16 to the final list A, while UN Regulation No. 14 should be moved to list B.

43. Moreover, GRSP noted GRSP-55-17, indicating possible scenarios for the introduction of different propulsion tractions into the UN Regulation in view of IWVTA. The expert from OICA stated that UN Regulations should be considered technologically and fuel neutral. The expert from Germany indicated that the solution of developing specialized Annexes, each dedicated to specific fuel systems, could facilitate Contracting Parties when applying preceding series of amendments. However, he suggested that GRSP-55-17 would be further discussed and referred to the IWG on IWVTA to verify if such a solution would be viable for all UN Regulations. He also envisaged that the issue of cross referencing to other UN Regulations should be further developed by the IWG. GRSP agreed to resume discussion on this issue and to refer in the meantime GRSP-55-17 to the IWVTA IWG for consideration.

GRSG | Session 106 | 5-9 May 2014

47. GRSG noted WP.29-162-18 on some concerns of supplements to UN Regulation with long transitional provision periods and the administrative procedures for the submission and adoption of such amendments. The secretariat informed GRSG about the request of the Office of Legal Affairs in New York to clearly indicate, when adopting a supplement, to which series of amendments the supplement have to be addressed to, specifically in the case of UN Regulations with different series of amendments in force at the same time, due to long transitional provision periods.

48. GRSG also noted the proposal by IWVTA to indicate in the transitional provisions of future amendments a specific date (i.e. 1 September) for the application of the amendments instead of a period expressed in “months after the entry into force”. This request would at the time only be needed for UN Regulations listed in UN Regulation No. 0 on IWVTA. GRSG noted no objection and endorsed that approach.

WP.29 | Session 164 | 11-14 Nov 2014

47. WP.29 noted that WP.29-164-10 was discussed under agenda item 4.4 (see para. 52 below). WP.29 referred the document to IWVTA for further consideration.

52. The representative of the Netherlands proposed a clarification to Article 12 to avoid different interpretations of the provisions on the obligations of Contracting Party to accept type approvals in the case they intend to cease the application of a Regulation. WP.29 endorsed the proposal. The representative of the Russian Federation reiterated the position of his Government expressed in WP.29-164-09 to object to the provisions on the delegation of voting rights. WP.29 agreed to remove Article 9 from the appendix of draft Revision 3. -The secretariat proposed to amend the definition of “a version of a UN Regulation” in WP.29-164-10 tabled under agenda item 4.2.2 and to replace the word “any” by “all” in the last sentence. Following the discussion, WP.29 preferred to delete the word “any”. The amendments agreed upon by WP.29 are reproduced in Annex III to WP.29-164 session report.

56. The World Forum recognized that the Contracting Parties would need more time to review the above proposals and agreed to resume consideration of this subject at its next session in March 2015. The representatives of Germany and the United Kingdom noted the need for a finalized text prior to submitting to their national authorities for approval and so the World Forum agreed that adoption of the revised agreement would be delayed accordingly. The secretariat was also requested to circulate WP.29-164-23 as a separate official document.

GRE | Session 71 | 31 Mar-3 Apr 2014

53. The Secretary to AC.1 reported on the progress in preparing Revision 3 of 1958 Agreement, including UN Regulation No. 0 on IWTA (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53 and WP.29-162-04), as well as the proposed revised guidelines for supplements and series of amendments to UN Regulations (WP.29-162-18) whose main elements are as follows:

a) Contracting Parties may apply former versions of UN Regulations, “engraved in stone”;

b) establish common date (e.g. 1 September each year) of entry into force of new series of amendments to UN Regulations;

c) only one new series of amendments per year would be allowed;

d) in case of several series of amendments in force, for every supplement the respective GR and WP.29 should indicate the series of amendments it refers to. The secretariat should prepare separate documents for each series of amendments for adoption by WP.29 and AC.1;

f) the guidelines for transitional provisions established by WP.29 (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/1044/Rev.1) would be amended accordingly.

54. GRE took note of the above information and expressed no objections to setting the common annual date of entry into force of new series of amendments on 1 September.