1. Japan Automobile Standards Internationalization Center (JASIC) was established in 1987 by joint efforts of government and industry for the purpose of supporting activities to promote internationalization of governmental standards and certification system for motor vehicles. For details of its activities, click here.

2. The following materials are published by JASIC:

(1) Automotive Regulations Information System (fee-based)
Subscribers of this service can access to vehicle regulations of Europe, the United States and Australia, including UN/ECE Regulations, whose significance is increasingly acknowledged in terms of global harmonization of standards. The regulations are available both in English and Japanese. Click here for details.

(2) Automobile Type Approval Handbook for Japanese Certification (fee-based)
All automobile regulations in Japan have been put on one CD-ROM, enabling an easy access to a variety of information. Click here for details.

(3) Japan's Country Report (fee-based)
This report provides comprehensive information on Japanese vehicle regulation system, safety and environmental standards, inspection and maintenance systems and so on through easy-to-understand examples. Click here for details.

(4) Status of Uniform Vehicle Regulations at UN (fee-based)

(5) Pamphlets on Harmonization of Regulations (free)
These pamphlets present a simple explanation of the UN agreement concerning the mutual recognition of approvals (1958 Agreement) and the UN agreement concerning global technical regulations for vehicles, etc. (1998 Agreement). Click here for details.

3. Japanese vehicle regulations (translated into English), UN/ECE Regulations, EU Directives, the United States standards (on safety and emissions), and Australian Design Rules are available. Click here for details.

1. International standards have long been established for airplanes and ships, which often travel across and between continents and whose operations would be greatly hindered if each country had its own unique safety and environmental standards. On the other hand, there has been little need to consider across-the-ocean or across-the-border operations of automobiles since they are only used on land and usually in a relatively limited local area. For this reason, each country or region has developed its own vehicle standards according to its local traffic infrastructure and its own accident/environment realities.

3. We are facing common global problems such as environment and safety. Nevertheless, climate, culture, and technology vary significantly from country to country. If all standards of all countries were simply put together into a single global regulation, then some countries might end up having to waste social resources without gaining any benefit. Therefore, it is necessary to create reasonable and effective standards while taking each country's situations into consideration; for example, performance requirements should be more focused on than structural requirements, and standards should be based on reasonable study results.

1. Its official name is World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations. It is the only body within the United Nations to discuss the global harmonization of regulations. UN/ECE Regulations and global technical regulations (gtr) are formulated at WP29.

2. Click here for its organizational chart.

1. Its official name is Agreement Concerning the Adoption of Uniform Technical Prescriptions for Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts Which Can Be Fitted and/or Be Used on Wheeled Vehicles and the Conditions for Reciprocal Recognition of Approvals Granted on the Basis of These Prescriptions. This is a multinational treaty of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe signed in 1958. Its purposes are to establish the uniform provisions on safety and environment performance of vehicle structures and equipment and to facilitate reciprocal recognition of approvals for such structures and equipment. Under the 1958 Agreement, regulations concerning vehicle structures and equipment ("UN/ECE Regulations") are laid down. These regulations are formulated and/or revised at UN/ECE/WP29 in concert with the latest social needs and technological development. In 1995, the Agreement was amended in response to demands for ensuring the transparency of the discussion forum and improving its voting system with a view to accepting non-European Contracting Parties. Following the amendment, non-European countries such as Japan, South Africa and Australia have also acceded to the Agreement.

2. Both industry and government will benefit. Manufacturers of a Contracting Party do not have to change design specifications of their vehicles for each country and can use the common parts and components for vehicles to be sold in different countries, which enables them to develop and produce vehicles at lower cost. Also, the government of a Contracting Party can process the inspection of vehicles in a more efficient manner by using the simplified certification procedures.

3. Contracting Parties can optionally adopt UN/ECE Regulations. Contracting Parties may mutually recognize approvals, but it is limited to the equipment for which they have adopted the relevant UN/ECE Regulations. Japan has been adopting UN/ECE Regulations while assuring that environment and safety are the top priority.

4. Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement have the voting right in establishing and revising the UN/ECE Regulations. In addition, Contracting Parties may adopt the Regulations optionally for each equipment. They have the right to issue a certificate for equipment after confirming its conformity to the relevant adopted Regulation and the other Contracting Parties that have adopted the same Regulation have the obligation to accept such certificate.

5. As of March 2006, 46 countries have acceded to the Agreement. Click here for more on the Contracting Parties.

6. The government of a Contracting Party does not need to have its own testing facilities. For example, the qualified third-party testing laboratories inside or outside of its country or manufacturers' facilities may be used.

1. Its official name is Agreement Concerning the Establishing of Global Technical Regulations for Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts Which Can Be Fitted and/or Be Used on Wheeled Vehicles. The purposes of the 1998 Agreement are to establish global technical regulations (gtr) concerning safety, environment, fuel economy and theft prevention performance of motor vehicles and to implement these regulations in line with the uniform provisions of UN/ECE Regulations. In other words, the 1998 Agreement takes into consideration those nations that are employing "self-certification system," in which manufacturers guarantee the conformity of their vehicles to relevant safety standards and the government confirm the conformity of vehicles after they are placed on the market.

2. Contracting Parties to the 1998 Agreement have the voting right in establishing and revising the global technical regulations (gtr). Contracting Parties may adopt the global technical regulations (gtr) optionally for each equipment and incorporate them into their national standards.

3. As of June 2006, 28 countries have acceded to the Agreement. Click here for more on the Contracting Parties.

4. Global technical regulations (gtr) and UN/ECE Regulations are expected to incorporate newly-established provisions of each other into its own provisions. This makes it possible to harmonize regulations with countries employing the self-certification system. However, certification system prescribed in the UN/ECE Regulations, i.e., the system in which the government checks and guarantees the performance of vehicles, is not included in the global technical regulations (gtr).