Summary Report on WP29/GRSG Common Tasks WG Meeting at Ottawa

 

Convention date
 April 4, 2002

Summary
* At the preceding CT3 meeting Japan and OICA presented a joint Draft Regulation concerning vehicle categories, mass and dimensions for Global Technical Regulations, on which Canada, Hungary and France made comments. In response to these comments, Japan proposed amendments to the Draft Regulation at the Ottawa informal meeting.
* Although Japan's proposed amendments were basically agreed, the following matters were left pended for future discussion.
-
 Category naming: By numbers or abbreviations? (to be decided at the next CT meeting)
-
 Subcategories of category 2: Feasibleness of any contracting party to be able to introduce additional break points to the basic break point on 3.5 tons for environmental and safety reasons, and feasibility of eliminating the break point on 7.5 tons (to be studied by OICA)
-
 Regulation format: Preparation of a format on the basis of the Document WP29/2002/25 discussed at the preceding WP29 session (to be prepared by Japan)
-
 Distinction between categories 1 and 2: Study on distiction based on numerical formulas (to be studied by OICA)
-
 Mass in running order: Need to introduce the concept of width (OICA to prepare explanatory documents).
   
Outline of Ottawa Informal Meeting
Date:
 Thursday, April 4, 2002
Place:
 Conference room of Transport Canada
Chairman:
Takao Onoda, Japan Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport
Participants:
Japan MLIT, Transport Canada, Germany Transport Ministry, U.S. NHTSA, OICA, JASIC, CT secretariat
 
Next meeting:
4th CT at Geneva, April 29-30, 2002
 

For further information and official minutes, visit:
http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/wp29wgs/wp29grsg/commontasks_ottawa.html

 

Common Tasks

In response to expanding international distribution of motor vehicles and equipment and globalization of the automobile industry, Global Technical Regulations, an international agreement promoting global harmonization of safety and environmental regulations for motor vehicles and equipment, which differ in each country, was signed by eight countries, including Japan, and put into effect on August 25, 2000. (Japan signed the Agreement in August 1999. As of April 2002, there are 19 signatory nations.)

Global harmonization of regulations based on the Agreement will be the subject of full-fledged deliberations by Japan, the USA, Europe and other concerned nations at the UN World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP29). In formulating international harmonized regulations, the Japanese government thus far has advocated the need for compiling common global definitions for automobile categories and for methods of measuring their weights and dimensions, which are stipulated separately in each country at present. As a result, the necessity was recognized internationally; a W/G was established under the Working Party on General Safety Provisions (GRSG) of the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations, UN/ECE (WP29), chaired by Japan's Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. Discussions will be held among concerned nations, etc., and common global definitions of vehicle categories, weights and dimensions will be determined, hopefully by this autumn.


 

 

 
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