[Purpose and History of the Government-Industry Meetings]

Series of JASIC Asia Government-Industry Meetings has been staged for the purpose of achieving international harmonization through the support of Asian countries/territories in their efforts to establish effective regulations and improve their certification systems. As the principal method of accomplishing this purpose, the Asian countries/territories attending the G-I Meetings have agreed to strive for participation in the WP.29, which is the world's only international forum specialized in the harmonization of automotive technical regulations.

Starting with the first JASIC Asia G-I Meeting held in Tokyo October 1998, a total of nine G-I Meetings have been staged in various Asian countries/territories, with JASIC and the transport-related government offices of the host nations serving as co-organizers. A cumulative total of over 1,100 people from government offices in the transport, environment and automotive regulation fields and from the vehicle and parts manufacturing industries in 14 Asian countries/territories took part in the past nine G-I Meetings.

At the first three JASIC Asia G-I Meetings, which comprised the First Series, discussions were focused on the delineation of suitable automotive regulations and certification system for each participating country/territory to achieve the harmonization of regulations and the mutual recognition of certification with other nations. As sum-up of the First Series, a joint statement entitled "Enhancement of Regulations and Certification Systems, Participation in the WP.29, and Accession to the 1958 and 1998 Agreements" was issued.

For the Second Series covering the 4th to 6th JASIC Asia G-I Meetings, it was decided that discussions would be directed to the subject of realization and expansion of observer participation in WP.29 in order to accomplish the goal stipulated in the previously-issued joint statement. Therefore, the members focused their dialogs on the identification of obstacles to WP.29 participation and debated various methods of overcoming the obstacles. As a result, at the 6th JASIC Asia G-I Meeting, the members issued the joint statement of the Second Series pertaining to the achievements of the past G-I Meetings, participation in the WP.29/GRs and accession to the 1958 Agreement as future targets, determination of the course of future G-I Meetings, and cooperation with the automobile industry. At the same time, they decided on the theme of the Third Series, which is "Realization of ECE Regulations Adoption and WP.29/GRs Participation."

Throughout the Third Series consisting of the 7th to 9th JASIC Asia G-I Meetings, the participants discussed issues along the theme of the Series and obtained good results. More specifically, (1) the discussion allowed the participants to develop their understanding of the 1958 Agreement and several countries/territories stated their commitments to accession to the Agreement; (2) the importance of WP.29 participation was confirmed and it was decided to invite parties involved in organization of WP.29 to the next G-I Meeting to promote awareness; and (3) it was agreed to continue holding "expert meetings" to support the activities of G-I Meetings in the future.

At the 9th JASIC Asia G-I Meeting, which concluded the Third Series, the following discussions were held:

a.

Comprehensive activities were conducted with a view to participating in WP.29/GRs and expanding adoption of ECE Regulations. Vietnam reported on its first participation in WP.29 of November 2004.

b.

Analyses were carried out on rights/obligations and merits/demerits as well as obstacles in acceding to the 1958 Agreement, in order to promote understanding of the agreement. Participating countries/territories agreed that there were no fundamental obstacles blocking accession, although domestic circumstances differ among countries/territories. This was confirmed in the discussion with Mr. Gauvin, WP.29 Vice-chairman, who was invited to the meeting. It was also reported that Republic of Korea signed the 1958 Agreement in October 2004.

c.

Many countries/territories were found to have made progress in formulating action plans, based on their unique needs, for the adoption of ECE Regulations. Incorporation of ECE Regulations into domestic regulations of each country/territory has clearly become an important part of harmonization efforts along with consideration to the accession to the 1958 Agreement.

d.

As for expert meetings, Indonesia announced its plan to organize a meeting in early 2005 on accession to the 1958 Agreement, and Thailand on standards for brakes in mid-2005. It is hoped that many countries/territories will participate in those expert meetings.

Participants agreed that the 10th JASIC Asia G-I Meeting should be held to open up the Fourth Series with the concept, "Realization of Accession to the 1958 Agreement and Improvement of Asian Presence at WP.29."

29 November to 1 December 2005 (3 days)

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Representatives of government offices in the transport, environment and vehicle regulation fields and members of the vehicle and parts manufacturing industries from 16 Asian countries/territories (Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan, Laos, Myanmar, Cambodia, Japan)

* 29 to 30 November: Presentations and discussions
Under the concept "Realization of Accession to the 1958 Agreement and Improvement of Asian Presence at WP.29," the following three key issues will be focused on.
* Ratification to the 1958 Agreement by Asian countries/territories and expansion of such ratification within Asia;
* Expansion of participation in WP.29 by Asian countries/territories; and,
* Agreement for future G-I Meetings based on stronger partnerships among countries/territories.

Other scheduled programs include reporting by countries/territories that have recently acceded to the 1958 Agreement on the current status of their relevant activities, reporting on expert meetings on specific issues, and panel discussions on these topics.

* 1 December: Technical Tour

Malaysia's Road Transport Department (JPJ) and JASIC

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport