[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 eleven 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 1,450 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 eleven 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.

The Fourth Series started with the 10th JASIC Asia G-I Meeting.
In the Fourth Series, whose theme is “Accession to the 1958/1998 Agreements and Improved Asian Presence in WP.29,” the participating countries/territories have been expressing a wide range of profound ideas and exchanging opinions on three objectives: (1) realizing the ratification of the 1958/1998 Agreements by Asian countries/territories and increasing the number of ratifying countries/territories; (2) expanding participation in WP.29 and getting out information on the actual state of affairs in Asia; and (3) strengthening solidarity among Asian countries/territories with the prospect of effecting a smooth transfer to new government-industry meetings.

Regarding the first objective, Malaysia, Thailand, and India have acceded to the 1958/1998 Agreements, the 1958 Agreement, and the 1998 Agreement, respectively.

Concerning the second objective, in addition to Japan, China, Republic of Korea, and India participating in WP.29 on an ongoing basis, Indonesia and the Philippines participated for the first time as observers. What is more, there were signs that the Asian presence is more solid with, for example, the start of activities at the WP.29 based on proposals from China and India regarding motorcycle exhaust gas test methods.

As for the third objective of strengthening solidarity among Asian countries/territories with the prospect of effecting a smooth transfer to new government-industry meetings, three expert meetings were held in Asia in 2006 and five more are scheduled to be held in 2007. The results obtained from most of these expert meetings have been reported at G-I Meetings. At the G-I Meetings, the participants confirmed and shared an understanding that such ongoing expert meetings are a link to strengthened solidarity among Asian countries/territories and a key element in building a framework for new government-industry meetings.

The 12th JASIC Asia G-I Meeting, the 3rd meeting in the Fourth Series, is scheduled to be held with the following programs.

27 to 29 November 2007 (3 days)

Manila, Philippines

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

* 27 & 28 November: Presentations and discussions
Theme: “Accession to the 1958 Agreement and Improved Asian Presence in WP.29”

The meeting programs also include reporting of harmonization activities of each country/territory as well as panel discussions to identify tasks and solutions for establishing the vehicle certification system after acceding to the 1958 Agreement.

* 29 November: Technical Tour

The Philippines' Land Transportation Office (LTO) under Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) and JASIC

Japan's Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport