Proposal to further refine the transitional provisions of UN R48. In 2014, the transitional provisions of UN R48 were changed in order to avoid having more than one series of amendments in force at the same time (via Supplement 3 to the 06 series of amendments). This change allows earlier series of amendments to be “frozen” and used under the International Whole Vehicle Type Approval system (IWVTA) as “versions” of UN R48. However, the possibility for the partial application of a series of amendments resulting from the installation of new equipment on a vehicle approved to an earlier series has been raised within the IWVTA. This proposal refines the transitional provisions in order to enable partial application of a series through an extension of the existing approval rather by requiring a new approval. At the same time, the proposal aims to ensure that the safety objectives of UN R48 are met.

The regulation of lighting includes individual regulations for specific lighting devices (headlamps, direction indicators, etc.), for light source (filament, gas, LED), and for installation (UN R48). The proposed UN R0 on the type approval of whole vehicles requires submission of approval certificates for components and systems to be included within the whole vehicle approval. Vehicle manufacturers work directly with UN R48 approvals, but lamp and device approvals are generally handled by lighting suppliers. UN R48 includes provisions for listing approvals of lighting units, but not for approvals of light sources (presently UN R37, R99, and R128). In order to avoid excessive administrative burdens, GTB proposes that the regulations covering light units include provisions to confirm their approval under the applicable light source regulations such that UN R48 approvals would represent approval of the vehicle lighting systems under both device regulations and light-source regulations.