As an informal meeting of UN/ECE/WP.29/AC.3 on Global Technical Regulation (GTR) for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles (HFCVs), the 1st Safety Subgroup meeting was held at JASIC for three days on 19-21 October 2005 and attended by around 35 people representing the governments of the United States, Canada, the Netherlands, Germany, EU, and China, the ISO, and the automobile industries in the U.S. and Europe as well as parties from Japan involved in the HFCV GTR activities.

The purpose of this meeting was to facilitate activities for developing the HFCV GTR with safety and environment provisions, which are co-sponsored by Japan, the U.S., and Germany.

At the meeting, in order for the participants to better understand HFCV regulations, Japan explained the details of its world-first technical standards for fuel cell vehicles and development history of the standards on which to base the HFCV GTR discussions. In addition, information regarding the status of regulation of fuel cell vehicles was provided by the U.S., EU, and China.

On the last day of the meeting, a study tour was conducted at Japan Automobile Research Institute (JARI)'s advanced test facilities, namely FC/EV Center and Shirosato Test Center.

A more specific roadmap for establishment of the GTR will be developed in the future through discussions lead by the co-sponsors: Japan, the U.S., and Germany.