Presentation from the PTI informal group on the future development of the 1997 Agreement.

Summary of the status of the proposals for UN Regulation changes adopted during the March 2015 session of WP.29. These adopted regulations entered into force on 8 October 2015 following the statutory waiting period to allow for review by the Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement.

Request from the SLR informal group for confirmation whether the proposed establishment of a resolution on common specifications of light source categories is acceptable. The resolution would provide a list of light sources allowed in lamps. The UN Office of Legal Affairs has stated that a resolution may not be used to amend a regulation, raising a possible question of interpretation. The SLR informal group also asks whether the proposed resolution can be provided only in English.

Discussion paper concerning the transposition of GTR 15 into a UN Regulation. The paper raises two possible routes: 1) a UN Regulation identical to EU legislation but that would not be not applied (in its entirety as a distinct rule) outside the EU; 2) a “hierarchical” UN Regulation that combines all elements of all emissions thresholds at their most stringent level with lower levels of approval corresponding to regional/national requirements. The EC proposes option 2 as this would allow for a global rule where Contracting Parties could certify systems to standards outside their markets (e.g., Japan could issue approvals to EU standards and vice versa) under the UN Regulation.

Progress report on the development of GTR concerning safety aspects of electric vehicles.

Presentation of research conducted by the World Blind Union and National Federation of the Blind in the United States to validate the effectiveness of the proposed minimum sound levels for quiet vehicles at 10 and 20 km/h. The researchers concluded that the proposed sounds levels do not add significantly to the detectability of an approaching vehicle by a blind pedestrian and that internal combustion engine vehicles were detected substantially sooner than quiet vehicles equipped with the proposed acoustic vehicle alerting system (AVAS).

Comments received from OICA, CLEPA/MEMA/JAPIA, and Transport Canada with “trilateral group” (EU/USA/Japan) responses.

World Blind Union comments opposing the current provisions of the draft UN Regulation on quiet vehicle minimum sound levels, especially with regard to the effectiveness of the AVAS parameters, inclusion of “pause button”, and absence of stationary (“idling”) vehicle sound requirement.