Final proposed text to revise and update the 1958 Agreement pursuant to the project to establish an international whole vehicle type approval system.

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.

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.

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.

47. WP.29 noted the revised text of draft Revision 3 to the 1958 Agreement (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53) reflecting the discussion of the March 2014 session. The World Forum requested the secretariat to reintroduce the provisions of the equal authenticity of English, French and Russian languages which existed in the first unamended text of the Agreement. WP.29 decided to freeze the draft revision and requested the Contracting Parties to clarify their political and legal views on this draft revision. WP.29 agreed to resume consideration of the revision of the Agreement at its November 2014 session, awaiting the appropriate political and legal guidance.

23. On behalf the GRB Ambassador to IWVTA, the expert from EC reported on the progress made on Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement and on the development of UN Regulation No. 0. At its June 2014 session, WP.29 had agreed to freeze the work on Revision 3 and to resume its consideration in November 2014 on the basis of political and legal guidance that the Contracting Parties had been requested to provide, in particular, on outstanding issues of proxy voting and the three-fourth or the four-fifth majority required for taking decisions. WP.29 had also approved a questionnaire on IWVTA which was subsequently distributed. The latest draft of Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement is contained in ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/82.

33. The Secretary to WP.29 reported on the progress made on Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement and on the development of Regulation No. 0. At its June 2014 session, WP.29 had agreed to freeze the work on Revision 3 and to resume its consideration in November 2014 on the basis of political and legal guidance that the Contracting Parties had been requested to provide, in particular, on outstanding issues of proxy voting and the three-fourth or the four-fifth majority required for taking decisions. WP.29 had also approved a questionnaire on IWVTA, which was subsequently distributed. The latest draft of Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement is available in ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53 and ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/82.

51. WP.29 recalled the frozen text of draft Revision 3 to the 1958 Agreement (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53) and the additional provisions on the equal authenticity of English, French and Russian languages (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/82).

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.

29. The secretariat informed GRB about the current situation in Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement, development of IVWTA and the Database on Exchange of Type Approval documentation (DETA) and highlighted the recent changes in the draft text of Revision 3 made at the November 2014 session of WP.29 as well as the remaining outstanding issues (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/53, ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2014/82). GRB requested the secretariat to deliver, at its next session, a detailed presentation on Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement. The Chair pointed out that Regulations Nos. 28, 51 and 117 under the responsibility of GRB had been recently amended and are ready for the inclusion in the IVWTA listing.

Proposed text, updated to reflect discussions at the June 2014 WP.29 session, to revise and update the 1958 Agreement pursuant to the project to establish an international whole vehicle type approval system.

49. The representative of Japan gave an overview of the discussions of the IWG on IWVTA. He referred to ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2015/40 and recalled the discussion of WP.29 at its previous session on the voting majority threshold. He introduced WP.29-165-04 superseding ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2015/41 aimed at amending Article 3 on special provisions. Noting that some critical comments had been received, he added that the IWG would resume discussions on this issue and report back to the June 2015 session of WP.29.

50. The representative of EU informed WP.29 that the EU Member States continue consultation on voting majority threshold and announced to provide more detailed information on a common position in the next sessions of WP.29. He raised concerns about the late submission of the amendments to Article 3 on special provisions and stressed the importance of freezing the text for the adoption process of the third Revision of the 1958 Agreement.

51. The World Forum agreed to defer discussion on this subject to its forthcoming session in June 2015. The secretariat was, thus, requested to circulate WP.29-165-04 with an official symbol.

53. WP.29 recalled the work related to draft Revision 3 to the 1958 Agreement and the position of a number of Contracting Parties to increase the majority-voting threshold from two-thirds to four-fifths. The representative of EU gave an update on the progress of deliberation within the EU on the voting issue. She reported that the work at the EU level had progressed and that the draft proposal had entered in the decision-making process in the Council. She expected that a final position on this issue would be presented in March 2016.

54. The representative of the Russian Federation re-iterated his position in favour of the four-fifths voting threshold.

55. The World Forum agreed to seek, at its forthcoming session in March 2016, unanimity by the Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement on the final text of draft Revision 3. For that purpose, the secretariat was requested to prepare a final document, taking into account the editorial correction adopted by the IWG on IWVTA.