GAR | WP.29-196

WP.29/1186 World Forum: Report of the 196th (June 2025) session

UNECE: .pdf | .docx GAR: .pdf | .docx

8.3. Safer and cleaner used and new vehicles for low- and middle-income countries

98. The Chair of the Informal Working Group on Safer and Cleaner Used Vehicles (IWG on SCUNV) presented their recent activities (WP.29-196-31). He reported that there had been two meetings since the last WP.29 session, namely the fifteenth and sixteenth session of the IWG on SCUNV. At is sixteenth session, the group reviewed the status of work completed against its Terms of Reference. He highlighted that the group had completed most of the work on used vehicles and had successfully submitted two official documents to WP.29. He noted that there was still ongoing work on emission requirements (for used and new vehicles) and he once again appealed to contracting parties to share their specific requirements in order to ensure that the final product of the group is a harmonized document taking into account various national requirements.

99. The representative of the United States of America and Vice-Chair of the IWG on SCUNV presented two main questions to WP.29 for consideration. On the element of data sharing, he noted that countries may or may not have a policy on the sharing of vehicle data after the vehicle has been first registered. Taking this view into consideration, he requested guidance from WP.29 on how the data sharing element should be addressed by the IWG on SCUNV. The other item brought to WP.29 for consideration was the format of the final product of the group. The representative of the United States of America suggested that this should be a resolution and wondered if one of the three existing types of resolutions in the WP.29 framework (Consolidated Resolutions, Mutual Resolutions and Special Resolutions) would be suitable for that purpose, or a new type of resolution could be created. A decision on the format would be taken by WP.29.

100. The Chair of the IWG on SCUNV recalled that the group mandate expires in December 2025 and highlighted that the group could request an extension at the November 2025 session of WP.29, taking into consideration the need to ensure the effectiveness of the final document and to continue working on outstanding issues. He also pointed out that the group had had positive engagement from the African continent but was hoping to have more engagement from other low- and middle-income countries in Central Asia and Central and South America. He also thanked CITA for the work that was done to support the work of the IWG on SCUNV and highlighted that the group participate in the CITA RAG Africa Conference in November 2025 similar to what was done in the past to encourage further participation of African countries in the work of the SCUNV. He noted that further details would be circulated by the secretariat.

101. The representative of CITA highlighted that it would be important to have a decision from WP.29 on what the final document should be. He also added that many countries had been waiting on the final document as it would be useful guidance for their import of used vehicles. He noted that the Consolidated Resolution category may be the best suited position as this category contained multiple resolutions.

102. The representative from Austria also noted that the future resolution would fit in the category of Consolidated Resolutions as they currently cover resolutions which are associated with the 1949 and 1968 Conventions as well as the 1958, 1997 and 1998 Agreements. He also highlighted that, as it relates to the policy question on data sharing, consideration could be given to a combination of public and private data sharing for countries where the governmental level did not have a framework in place.

103. The representative of Nigeria thanked the IWG on SCUNV for their work so far and noted the importance of the work for his country. He noted that the vehicles imported in Nigeria are predominately used vehicles and made an appeal to exporting countries to ensure that there is a pre-shipment inspection in the exporting country as this would positively impact the level of vehicles imported to Nigeria as well as to other low- and middle-income countries and reduce the number of vehicles which are either water damaged or should be classified as scrapped vehicles. He also suggested that the mandate of the work of IWG be extended to continue their work. He supported the creation of a single harmonised document on Used Vehicles which would help low- and middle-income countries ensure adherence to a minimum standard.

104. The representative of Kenya also acknowledged the positive work of the IWG on SCUNV and noted that it was important to make further decisions on the data sharing mechanisms. He noted that the information sharing should be at the government level to ensure citizens get value for their investments, that safety and environmental considerations are upheld during import and export processes, accountability is enhanced especially by the exporting and importing parties and that existing hurdles to access of accurate vehicle historical data by the citizens are eliminated.

105. The Chair of WP.29 suggested that the IWG on SCUNV prepare a draft Consolidated Resolution for submission at either the November 2025 session or the March 2026 session.

106. The Chair of the IWG on SCUNV thanked WP.29 for the feedback and noted that he would take the request for preparation of a draft Consolidated Resolution back to the IWG on SCUNV and continue discussions on the exchange of data to bring back an update at the next session of WP.29.