Proposal to amend General Guidelines for United Nations regulatory procedures and transitional provisions in UN Regulations based on WP.29/2024/76, adding permanent transitional provisions applicable to all series of amendments allowing Contracting Parties to grant type approvals according to any preceding series of amendments and continue granting extensions of existing approvals, reorganizing series-specific transitional provisions with provisions for the XX Series and subsequent series, and deleting former para. V.9 and V.9bis provisions that shall be repositioned as permanent provisions.

The IWVTA IWG submitted an Informal Document regarding amendments to the General Guidelines on Transitional Provisions to introduce a new paragraph P in Annex 1 for the current V9&V9bis, Section II, and to add a headline to paragraph V and paragraph V.+1 in the same section. The IWVTA IWG submitted an Informal proposal regarding amendments to UN R0/09 series as an annual update on UN Regulations applicable to IWVTA. A joint workshop with the DETA IWG was held on 17 June 2026 in Flensburg, Germany with approximately 80 participants from authorities, technical services, and industry. Key outcomes include considering organizing a second workshop in Asia, conducting a survey on desirable DETA and IWVTA systems, and developing supporting materials explaining manufacturer application procedures.

Questionnaire on DETA/IWVTA Workshop. Part 1: DETA session requests respondent’s name and organization, then asks about level of understanding of DETA session as high, moderate, or low; items needing more explanation; and suggestions to make DETA more attractive for 1958 Contracting Parties, 1998 Contracting Parties, 1997 Contracting Parties, approval holders, and other users. Part 2: IWVTA session asks about level of understanding of IWVTA session as high, moderate, or low; items needing more explanation; and for Authorities, how Regulation No. 0 could be improved to make IWVTA acceptable for use as part of vehicle type-approval process. The future workshop section asks about expectations for next workshop and suggestions on contents, timing, and length.

The 50th IWVTA IWG session discussed strategies to increase IWVTA awareness and use, including harmonizing U-IWVTA with Japan’s Type Designation System and holding a workshop on July 17. Members reviewed UN R0/09 series amendments, considered revisions to General Guidelines on Transitional Provisions to prevent contradictions between series, and proposed a mechanism to identify compliance levels of UN type-approvals in DETA. The group will submit amended proposals to WP.29 in June and review updated Terms of Reference.

The agenda includes consideration of UN R0/09 series of amendments with Annex 4 update, proposed amendments to Guidelines on Transitional Provisions, discussion of IWVTA awareness and promotion including results from the first DETA/IWVTA workshop, extension of mandates beyond November 2026 with proposed terms of reference, and adding an attribute in DETA to indicate the latest series of amendments of approvals. A future meeting is proposed for November 12, 2026, in Paris.

Proposal to amend the General Guidelines for United Nations regulatory procedures and transitional provisions in UN Regulations based on WP.29/2024/76, to move transitional provisions applicable to all series of amendments to the beginning of transitional provisions sections, retitle successive series provisions as “Transitional provisions for the XX Series” and “Transitional provisions for the XX+1 Series”, add footnote reference 6 to para. V.3, and correct terminology from “previous” to “preceding” in footnotes 4–6 for consistency.

The Informal Working Group on International Whole Vehicle Type Approval assists WP.29 in harmonizing vehicle regulations under the 1958 Agreement. It clarifies issues related to UN Regulation No.0 and General Guidelines on Transitional provisions, upgrades UN Regulations applicable to IWVTA annually, and submits amendment proposals to WP.29 each November. Short to mid-term objectives include proposing user-friendly U-IWVTA and packaged L-IWVTA by end of 2029. Long-term objectives involve submitting proposals for full IWVTA covering all necessary UN Regulations. The group operates under WP.29 supervision, is open to 1958 Agreement Contracting Parties and NGOs, and makes decisions by consensus.

IWVTA, established in 2017 under UN R0 and the 1958 Agreement, extends mutual recognition from individual vehicle systems to whole vehicles, reducing duplication while preserving safety and environmental standards. Key benefits include simplified approval procedures, reduced testing and administrative costs, and improved time-to-market through a single coherent whole-vehicle approval framework based on UN Regulations. IWVTA acts as a convergence tool between different regulatory systems and offers a flexible framework for emerging markets. Main obstacles include that IWVTA is not yet global, with limited coverage, uneven acceptance, and complexity of introduction.

A Universal International Whole Vehicle Type Approval issued for vehicles of category M₁ under UN R0 that includes type-approval under the UN Regulations concerned shall be considered equivalent to an EU type-approval granted under Framework Regulation (EU) 2018/858. The approval authority granting EU-WVTA must confirm for all variants and versions within the EU-WVTA vehicle type the equivalence of the Part III list and that the EU-WVTA type is covered by the IWVTA class and IWVTA type.

IWVTA is an internationally recognised whole vehicle type approval scheme within the revised 1958 Agreement framework. It establishes mutual recognition of vehicle type approvals at the whole vehicle level across Contracting Parties, eliminating requirements for further testing, documentation, or certification for safety, environment, energy, and anti-theft. IWVTA comprises two approaches: U-IWVTA applies the highest stringency of latest UN Regulations, while L-IWVTA permits omissions or lower stringency versions. The scope is limited to passenger cars. Merits include simplified type approval systems, reduced testing and administrative costs, and shortened processing times.

The 1st DETA/IWVTA Joint Workshop is scheduled for June 17, 2026, 9:30–12:30 (CEST) as a hybrid meeting in Flensburg. The provisional agenda includes opening remarks from the DETA Chair, IWVTA Chair, and President of KBA. Part 1 covers DETA topics: what DETA is, a demonstration, ASEAN countries’ expectations, and ways to make DETA more attractive. Part 2 covers IWVTA topics: what IWVTA is, industry’s expectations, issuance and acceptance of IWVTA certificates in the EU, and ways to make IWVTA more attractive. The workshop concludes with any other business.

Proposal to insert new paras. 12.15. and 12.16. to establish transitional provisions, and amend Annex 4, Part A, Section I to update the list of requirements for U-IWVTA. Para. 12.15. provides that as from the official date of entry into force of the 09 series of amendments, no Contracting Party applying this UN Regulation shall refuse to grant or refuse to accept an IWVTA issued pursuant to this UN Regulation as amended by the 09 series of amendments. Para. 12.16. provides that as from 1 September 2027, Contracting Parties applying this UN Regulation shall not be obliged to accept type approvals to any of the preceding series of amendments, first issued after 1 September 2027. The amendment updates the table in Annex 4 to specify series of amendments for various UN Regulations including amendments to UN R14, UN R16, UN R46, UN R48, UN R79, UN R94, UN R95, UN R100, UN R110, UN R127, UN R129, UN R134, UN R137, UN R138, and UN R154.