UN/ECE Agreement on Uniform Technical Prescriptions for Vehicles Celebrates 50th Anniversary
July 15, 2008 // Published as a news service by IHS
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The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP 29) of the U.N. Economic Commission for Europe (U.N./ECE) celebrated the 50th anniversary of its 1958 Agreement on Uniform Technical Prescriptions for Vehicles.
The 1958 agreement has resulted in some 127 regulations on issues relating to safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency and the anti-theft performance of motor vehicles.
Forty-eight European and non-European countries have signed the agreement, and other countries announced that they are considering signing and implementing it.
These countries include China, India, other Asian countries and countries from the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
Alan Bryden, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) secretary-general, addressed the relationship between ISO and U.N./ECE since the creation of WP 29.
"The orientation you took in 2003 to refer, whenever possible, to international standards and to request proactive standardization to facilitate regulatory work goes in the right direction," Bryden said.
"Some 150 ISO standards are currently referenced by your technical regulations. We are ready to continue to deliver and welcome a good coordination to capture your expectations and adjust our production of standards accordingly," he said.
The standards elaborated by the ISO/technical committee (TC) 22 - Road vehicles support the evolution of the automotive industry by reducing the complexity of the relations between vehicle manufacturers and their suppliers, and by the reduction of diverging requirements between geographical regions.
According to ISO, 25 countries participate fully in the work of ISO/TC 22, and 43 more are kept regularly informed as observers. Through this national representation, all major automotive companies and other important stakeholders take part in the TC's activities, ISO said.
ISO also said that 50 years' harmonization of regulations combined with the use of consensus-based International Standards has reduced technical barriers to the trade of motor vehicles and even eliminated them between some countries.
Source: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).