Outline
The 9th Asia Expert Meeting, organized by the Vietnam Register, was held in Hanoi to discuss the accession to the 1958 Agreement. About 50 people, mainly from the Government and automotive industry of Vietnam, attended the meeting to actively exchange their views.

At the meeting, the organizer, i.e., the Vietnam Register, explained the domestic vehicle certification system in Vietnam and their perception of the current status to prepare for the accession to the 1958 Agreement as well as a plan to gradually introduce the ECE regulations to Vietnam by 2010. Representatives of the local automotive industry expressed their intention to support the government’s move to accede to the 1958 Agreement.
JASIC made a presentation on the outline of the 1958 Agreement and the importance of mutual recognition of certification based on the 1958 Agreement, while the Automobile Type Approval Test Department of the National Traffic Safety and Environment Laboratory explained the Japanese type approval system and technical services.
Also, on the basis of their experience of acceding to the 1958 Agreement last year, the Thai Department of Land Transport (DLT) introduced the background to the accession to
the Agreement and their ideas about the introduction of the ECE regulations to Thailand in future.
The presentations were followed by active discussions.

The presentation materials will be uploaded to the “About WP29 - Harmonization Trends in Asia” column later.