The 1958 Agreement regulates the functioning of the international system for the recognition of type approvals under UN Regulations. The Agreement specifies how regulations are to be established and how the system operates whereby an approval under a given regulation accorded by one country can be accepted by all other countries applying that regulation.
The program to establish an international system for whole vehicles (as opposed to the current focus on individual vehicle components and systems) includes an important restructuring of the 1958 Agreement.
Revision 3 of the 1958 Agreement enters into force on 14 September 2017.