49. The representative of the United States of America, on behalf of the Chair of GRSP, informed WP.29 about the results achieved by the group during its seventy-forth session (for details see the session report ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/74), which took place on 4-8 December, 2023.

50. On the status of the work on EV safety, he reported that GRSP had yet to agree on several key technical issues and could not agree on  recommending an extension of the IWGs mandate.  .  Similarly, Concerning the creation of a special interested parties’ group that would work on an amendment to UN Regulation No. 100 under the framework of the 1958 Agreement, GRSP could not reach  agreement.  Both matters were deferred to WP.29 and AC.3.

51. Following the recommendation of AC.2:

• WP.29 decided to extend the mandate of the IWG EVS to complete the technical work under the 1998 Agreement. (see para. 5(g)).
• WP.29 also agreed to formalize a special interested parties’ group, under GRSP, to take stock of the work achieved so far by IWG EVS and proposed to amend UN Regulation No. 100 (Electric power trained vehicles) by June 2024.
• WP.29 agreed to request the secretariat to provide a wiki page under GRSP webpage to allocate the documents of the special interested parties’ group to provide full transparency.

52. Following the recommendation of AC.2, WP.29 decided to extend the mandate of the IWG EVS (see para. 5(g)). In the meantime, on the request of the representative of the EU, WP.29 agreed to establish an ad-hoc group, under GRSP, to take stock of the work achieved so far by IWG EVS and amend UN Regulation No. 100 (Electric power trained vehicles) by June 2024. Moreover, it was agreed to request the secretariat to provide a wiki page under GRSP webpage to allocate the documents of the ad hoc group to provide for full transparency. The representative of OICA recommended alignment of the work outcome of the ad hoc group and IWG EVS to avoid dis-harmonization.

53. The representative of the United States of America, on behalf of the Chair of GRSP recalled that Supplement 10 to the 03 series to UN Regulation No. 129 (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/2023/120) to clarify the existing requirement on “one-belt route”, adopted by WP.29 at its November 2023 session, needed further guidance. He explained that this clarification through the supplement would lead to uncertainty on previous type approvals granted in the same series of amendments but based on different interpretations and the same uncertainty would be reiterated for extensions of these type approvals preceding the supplement. GRSP experts were requested to provide feedback for discussion to Type Approval Authority Meetings (TAAM) and to be increasingly vigilant on this type of matters.

54. The representative of CLEPA stated that at the December 2023 session of GRSP, his organization highlighted through GRSP-74-03 examples of CRS on the market that would not comply with several important requirements of UN Regulation No. 129 on enhanced child restraint systems. This included, but was not limited to, violation of the requirement for only one seat belt route for installation of CRSs in a car. He underlined that CLEPA demonstrated those CRS have been type-approved incorrectly but they have a significant advantage in the market because they could offer attractive features that are not permitted to the detriment of manufacturers that respect the type-approval rules. Finally, he stated that this was a market-surveillance problem and also a type-approval problem, and actions should be taken to resolve it particularly in light of the provisions for non-conforming products under the 1958 Agreement. He concluded inviting all contracting parties to liaise with CLEPA and discuss this issue at the May 2024 session of GRSP in order to resolve it. WP.29 endorsed the approach suggested by the representative of CLEPA.

55. WP.29 noted that concerning the new UN Regulation on the Approval of Child Restraint Systems for Safer Transport of Children in Buses, GRSP had agreed on the revised TOR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2023/30) of the IWG on Safer Transport of Children in Buses and Coaches (IWG-STCBC) for the Phase 2 of the UN Regulation and sought WP.29 endorsement. WP.29 endorsed the revised ToR (ECE/TRANS/WP.29/GRSP/2023/30).

56. On children left in cars, WP.29 noted that GRSP had agreed establishing an ad hoc group with clear TOR. The experts from Australia and the Republic of Korea proposed to co-chair the group. The expert from China informed GRSP that NCAP China already had protocols to test the original equipment of manufacturers to detect the presence of children and offered to co-chair the group. WP.29 agreed to establish an IWG instead of ad-hoc group on this subject to give more momentum to the group, pending the adoption of the ToR at the May 2024 session of GRSP.

57. WP.29 noted that GRSP had unanimously elected Mr. M. Koubek (United States of America) as Chair and Mr. H. G. Kim (Republic of Korea) as Vice-Chair for the sessions of GRSP scheduled in the year 2024.