8. AC.2 met on 10 November 2025. It was chaired by Mr. Erario.
9. The WP.29 Secretary reported that:
(a) AC.2 reviewed the list of Working Parties, Informal Working Groups and Chairs (WP.29-197-01) and suggested several corrections that would be reflected in a revised informal document and an annex to the WP.29 report.
(b) Based on the inputs of its IWG on Chairmanships, AC.2 resumed consideration of promoting more global representation of WP.29 and its subsidiary bodies through the election of their officers from different regions. AC.2 noted that the WP.29 Rules of Procedure already provide for the possibility of having more than one Vice-Chair. AC.2 recommended WP.29 to establish the position of a second Vice-Chair and to elect a second Vice-Chair as early as in March 2026 for the term of office until November 2026, when all WP.29 officers (i.e. Chair and two Vice-Chairs) would be elected or re-elected for the next term. AC.2 requested IWG on Chairmanships to prepare, for the next session in March 2026, proposals on rotation among WP.29 officers. AC.2 also agreed to address, at its next session, the current practice of biennial elections of AC.3 officers.
(c) AC.2 noted with concerns the continued understaffing of the WP.29 secretariat and the proposed abolishment of the P-3 position (GRSP Secretary) as of 1 January 2026. AC.2 stressed the importance of the WP.29 work for the society and industry and invited its members to convey their concerns to the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) and its Bureau, as well as to reach out to the national Ministries for Foreign Affairs to protect the WP.29 secretariat positions at the budget discussions within the United Nations General Assembly and its Committees. Given the lack of the secretariat resources, AC.2 urged WP.29 and its subsidiary Working Parties (GRs) to define top priorities for the programme of work and to put on hold other activities.
(d) AC.2 recalled the ongoing restrictions on official documentation (number of documents and words) imposed by the UNOG Conference Services in 2025 and noted that similar quotas were likely to be introduced in 2026 as well. AC.2 noted various options identified by the secretariat to reduce official documentation, including preparation of concise documents, providing references to already translated texts and preparing a single document for identical horizontal amendments to different regulations or series of amendments to the same regulation. AC.2 also encouraged GRs to investigate taking decisions based on the English text only, on the conditions that French- and Russian-speaking experts agree to that and with the understanding that the final WP.29 documents will be available in all languages.
(e) For the calendar of sessions for 2026 (WP.29-197-02), AC.2 supported a possible swap between the planned June 2026 session of GRVA and May 2026 session of GRSP and invited the two Chairs to take a decision as soon as possible. For that GRVA session, AC.2 also recalled that GRVA had planned to have an informal session outside of Geneva, hosted in Canada. Several AC.2 members also requested the secretariat to check a possibility of rescheduling some GR sessions planned for October 2026.
(f) AC.2 confirmed its interest in organizing a WP.29 session at the ECLAC premises in Santiago (Chile) in November 2026 with the aim to promote the WP.29 Agreements and activities in Latin America. AC.2 invited WP.29 to support this proposal and to seek approval of ITC at its next meeting in February 2026. AC.2 also briefly discussed practical aspects of the event, in particular holding an official vs informal meeting.
(g) At GRPE request, AC.2 addressed the issue of having a separate level of stringency for small volume manufacturers in UN Regulations on vehicle emissions. AC.2 was not in a position to reach consensus and noted that the discussion would continue in WP.29.
(h) AC.2 reviewed the WP.29 agenda and recommended to postpone to the next session consideration of ECE/TRAN/WP.29/2025/162 (agenda item 4.6.2).
(i) In accordance with Rule 1(d) of the WP.29 Rules of Procedure (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/690/Rev.2), AC.2 approved the participation of:
(j) For all three NGOs, AC.2 agreed that their possible participation in WP.29 sessions could only be considered once they would have attended sessions of the respective GRs and these GRs would make proper recommendations.
(k) At GRE request, AC.2 briefly discussed reproduction of the transitional provisions for former series of a UN Regulation in the new series of amendments to the same UN Regulation. AC.2 referred GRE to considerations of IWG IWVTA (IWVTA-49-07).
10. At its meeting on the following day:
(a) WP.29 approved the AC.2 recommendation in paragraph 8 (b) above and decided to elect a second Vice-Chair as early as in March 2026 for the term of office until November 2026. The secretariat was requested to include this item in the agenda of the next session. WP.29 invited the delegations to consider nominating candidate Vice-Chairs for the March 2026 session. WP.29 also looked forward to receiving from AC.2 views on rotation among WP.29 officers.
(b) WP.29 shared the AC.2 concerns on the proposed abolishment of the P-3 position (GRSP Secretary) as of 1 January 2026 (point (c) above) and feared that it could undermine the efficient functioning of WP.29, including GRSP and the 1998 Agreement.
(c) The representatives of Canada and France expressed concerns with the AC.2 suggestion that GRs could work on documents in English only and stressed the need to adhere to the Rules of Procedure concerning official languages. The representative of the Russian Federation formally opposed the proposal.