Vol. 59 No.  45 Tuesday, March 8, 1994  p 10846 (Notice)   1/395


National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Revision of the 1958 United Nations Economic Commission for
Europe Agreement Regarding the Regulation of Motor Vehicle Equipment
and Parts

AGENCY: National Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice.


SUMMARY: This notice announces that NHTSA and the U.S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), on behalf of the United States Government,
will participate in negotiations regarding a proposed revision
to the 1958 United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE)
Agreement Concerning the Adoption of Uniform Conditions of Approval
and Reciprocal Recognition of Approval for Motor Vehicle Equipment
and Parts. The Agreement provides procedures for establishing
uniform regulations regarding new motor vehicles and motor vehicle
equipment and for reciprocal recognition of such regulations.
Regulations adopted by Contracting Parties govern the approval
of motor vehicles and equipment for sale in those countries.

   The United States is a member of the UN/ECE, but is not a
Contracting Party to the 1958 Agreement. Depending on the outcome
of these negotiations, it may be appropriate for the United
States to become a Contracting Party to the Agreement as it
may be revised. However, a decision has not yet made regarding
that course of action.
   Notwithstanding the revised Agreement's goal of harmonization
of motor vehicle standards, were the United States to become
a Contracting Party, it would not adopt a regulation that would
lower the level of protection provided by current U.S. domestic
safety and environmental standards. Further, there would be
no change in the process by which Federal Motor vehicle regulations
are adopted and put into effect in the United States. These
regulations would continue to be promulgated pursuant to legislation
enacted by Congress and through rulemaking proceedings conducted
under the Administrative Procedure Act and any other applicable
statute. Thus, a regulation under the proposed revision to the
1958 Agreement could be adopted by the United States only if
the relevant Federal agency complies with these requirements.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Mr. Frances J. Turpin, Director, Office of International Harmonization,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, room 5220, 400
Seventh Street, SW., Washington, DC 20590, telephone (202) 366-
2144; or Mr. Thomas M. Baines, Senior Technical Advisor, U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency, 2565 Plymouth Rd., Ann Arbor,
MI 48105, telephone (313) 668-4366. Copies of the 1958 Agreement
and of the proposed revision to the Agreement are available
from Mr. Turpin or Mr. Baines upon request.

   Telephone inquiries addressing safety standard issues should
be directed to Mr. Turpin and those concerning environmental
standard issues should be directed to Mr. Baines.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This notice announces that NHTSA
and EPA will participate, on behalf of the United States Government,
in negotiations regarding a proposed revision to the 1958 United
Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Agreement Concerning
the Adoption of Uniform Conditions of Approval and Reciprocal
Recognition of Approval for Motor Vehicle Equipment and Parts
(the "1958 Agreement" or the "Agreement"). The Agreement
is administered by the Working Party on the Construction of
Vehicles (WP29), a subsidiary group of the ECE. Negotiations
concerning the proposed revision of the Agreement involve countries
that are Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement and other
interested countries, such as the United States.

The 1958 Agreement

   The 1958 Agreement provides procedures for establishing uniform
regulations regarding new motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment
and for reciprocal acceptance of approvals issued under these
regulations. Regulations adopted by Contracting Parties pursuant
to the Agreement govern the approval of motor vehicles and motor
vehicle equipment for sale in those countries. The Agreement
was originally intended to address safety standards but has
since been amended to encompass environmental (air and noise
pollution emission) and energy standards. The United States
is a member of the UN/ECE, but is not a Contracting Party to
the Agreement.
   The goal of the Agreement and of WP29 is to promote harmonization
of motor vehicle regulations and otherwise to facilitate trade
in motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment. The Agreement
provides a mechanism of Contracting Parties to develop harmonized
motor vehicle regulations, and for reciprocal acceptance of
approvals issued under these regulations. The Agreement requires
compliance with regulations through type approval (i.e., testing
or witness of testing by a government-designated authority and
government approval), the system generally used by European
countries.
   Under the Agreement, any two or more Contracting Parties
wishing to adopt a regulation may propose a draft regulation
for annexation to the Agreement. The draft regulation enters
into force as a regulation annexed to the Agreement with respect
to each Contracting Party that has declared its intention to
adopt it. A Contracting Party that has adopted an annexed regulation
is allowed to grant type approvals for motor vehicle equipment
and parts covered by the regulation and is required to accept
the type approval of any other Contracting Party that has adopted
the same regulation. Regulations under the Agreement are required
to include test methods and conditions for granting type approvals.
   A Contracting Party may choose not to adopt any regulation
annexed to the Agreement. The regulation would therefore have
no effect on the Contracting Party. The Agreement also contains
a mechanism for a Contracting Party, upon notice, to adopt a
regulation after it has been annexed to the Agreement or to
stop applying a regulation that it has already adopted. An amendment
to an annexed regulation may be proposed by any Contracting
Party that is applying the regulation. The proposed amendments
may be vetoed, however, by the Contracting Party that is applying
the regulation.
   The effectiveness of the 1958 Agreement is demonstrated by
the integration of a single market in motor vehicles within
the member States of the European Union (EU) and the fact that
23 European countries have become Contracting Parties, including
11 EU member States. Furthermore, the Agreement has led to the
annexation of approximately 90 ECE regulations concerning passenger
cars, light trucks, heavy trucks, trailers, mopeds and motorcycles,
public service vehicles, and other vehicle types. These regulations
have been adopted to varying degrees by the Contracting Parties.
   The major benefit of the Agreement has been harmonization
of safety and environmental regulations relating to new motor
vehicles and motor vehicle equipment in Europe. Over the past
36 years, numerous European national motor vehicle regulations
have been used as the basis for establishing ECE regulations
that have subsequently been adopted by the Contracting Parties
pursuant to the Agreement and incorporated into their respective
regulatory systems.The reciprocal recognition of type approvals
among Contracting Parties applying the regulations has facilitated
trade in motor vehicles and equipment throughout Europe. In
recent years, the ECE/WP29 forum has been used to harmonize
ECE regulations and EU Directives.
   The United States is a member of the ECE, and on this basis
has been participating as a technical advisor in the work of
WP29 and its subsidiary bodies over the past decade. By such
participation, the United States has been able to keep itself
informed about European motor vehicle safety and environmental
regulatory developments. This participation has also encouraged
a certain degree of compatibility among the technical standards
contained in United States and European motor vehicle safety
and environmental regulations. The United States and relevant
European countries have fostered such compatibility while adhering
to the substantive and procedural requirements of their respective
regulatory systems. With respect to vehicle standards in the
United States, these requirements include the National Traffic
and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. section
1381 et seq.), the Clean Air Act, as amended (42 U.S.C. section
7401 et seq.), the Noise Control Act, as amended (42 U.S.C.
section 4901 et seq.), the Motor vehicle Information and Cost
Savings Act, as amended (15 U.S.C. section 2001 et seq.), and
the Administrative Procedure Act, as amended (5 U.S.C. section
551 et seq.).
   The United States has not, however, become a Contracting
Party to the 1958 Agreement because the United States has not
wished to incur the Agreement's reciprocal acceptance obligations
nor develop its regulations in a common European regulatory
development forum. One of the reasons for this position is that
the Agreement is premised on the use of a type approval system
for the regulation of motor vehicles and equipment. The United
States relies generally on a self-certification system to regulate
motor vehicle safety and noise, pursuant to statute. Under this
system, the manufacturers are responsible for compliance with
the applicable standards (subject to verification testing),
but need not obtain a certificate of conformity before introducing
vehicles into commerce. The United States air emissions regulatory
program is based on type approval, since manufacturers must
obtain a government certification of conformity to introduce
their vehicles into commerce. However, the U.S. air emissions
regulatory program is not compatible with the European system
because responsibilities and authorities are assigned differently,
including responsibility for testing vehicles, interpreting
regulations, and issuing certificates of conformity. In addition,
the U.S. air emissions program does rely to some extent on manufacturer
test data, which is characteristic of a self-certification system.
   Conversion of these United States regulatory programs to
a European-style system would require additional legislation.
Such a change would not necessarily contribute to achieving
current statutorily-mandated United States vehicle regulatory
goals. Neither the relevant Federal regulatory agencies nor
other interested parties have sought this change.
   If the United States were currently a Contracting Party to
the 1958 Agreement, the U.S. would have to invoke Article 1(6)
of the Agreement, which allows a country to become a Contracting
Party without adopting the regulations then annexed to the Agreement.
This would be necessary because the United States is unable
to adopt regulations under this Agreement in the absence of
additional conforming legislation that resolves the conflict
between the United States self-certification system and the
requirement in Article 2 of the Agreement for a type approval
system.

Proposed Revision to the 1958 Agreement

   Efforts are under way to revise the 1958 Agreement in ways
that might make it appropriate for the United States to consider
becoming a Contracting Party. The efforts began in 1989, when
WP29 issued a mission statement announcing the goal of promoting
worldwide harmonization of motor vehicle regulations. Participants
in WP29 agreed that serious consideration should be given to
revising the Agreement given the many changes that had occurred
in the field of motor vehicle regulation since 1958, including
the establishment of different vehicle standards programs in
various countries around the world (e.g., the United States,
Canada, Japan, and Australia), the accelerated rate of change
in automotive technology and design, the globalization of the
motor vehicle industry and market, and the creation of an integrated
market among EU member states.
   In 1990, WP29 decided to develop a revised Agreement which
would seek to promote worldwide harmonization of motor vehicle
regulations and would encourage membership by other countries,
particularly the United States, Japan, Canada, and Australia.
This latter goal was to be accomplished primarily by revising
the Agreement so that type approval would not be mandatory for
Contracting Parties.
   One of the most significant changes under the proposed revision
to the Agreement (the "proposed revision") would be to limit
the application of the provisions regarding type approval to
those Contracting Parties who choose to promulgate motor vehicle
regulations on the basis of a type approval system. Thus, a
type approval regulatory system would no longer be a precondition
to a country being able to become a Contracting Party and thereby
participating in the Agreement. Since a number of non-European
countries are members of or participate in activities of the
ECE, the possibility of these countries (including the United
States) becoming Contracting Parties provides an opportunity
to create a forum for promoting compatibility among motor vehicle
regulations on a wider scale than currently exists. As Contracting
Parties, these non-European countries would gain the right to
vote and to propose new regulations as well as changes in existing
ones.
   Other major changes contained in the proposed revision involve
the procedures for annexing a regulation to the Agreement and
for amending an annexed regulation. WP29 views the provision
in the current Agreement allowing two or more Contracting parties
to add a new regulation as an impediment to harmonization because
the provision makes it too easy to adopt a regulation that is
to be applied by only a small number of Contracting Parties.
   Conversely, the current procedures for amending a regulation
annexed to the Agreement are considered to be burdensome because
any one Contracting Party that has adopted the regulation has
the right to veto the proposed amendment. This amendment process
may impede the ability of the regulatory development process
to respond to technological changes in a timely manner.
   The proposed revision would, on the one hand, make it more
difficult for a new regulation to be annexed to the Agreement
and, on the other hand, make it easier to amend an already-annexed
regulation. The proposed revision to the Agreement provides
for an Administrative Committee composed of all Contracting
Parties. A proposed regulation would be "established" if 2/3
of the Committee members present at a meeting so vote. (At least
half of the total number of Contracting Parties would have to
be present at such meeting for the vote to be taken.) All Contracting
Parties would be notified of the Committee decision. The regulation
would be considered adopted as a regulation annexed to the Agreement
unless, within 6 months of such notification, at least 1/3 of
the Contracting Parties have communicated their disagreement
with the regulation. If the requisite number of Contracting
Parties did not communicate their disagreement in a timely manner,
the annexed regulation would enter into force for all Contracting
Parties that did not communicate their disagreement.
   The proposed revision also changes the way in which an annexed
regulation may be amended. An amendment to an already-annexed
regulation would be "established" if 2/3 of the Administrative
Committee members from countries applying the regulation present
at a meeting so vote. (At least half of the total number of
Contracting Parties that have adopted the regulation would have
to be present at such meeting for the vote to be taken.) All
Contracting Parties that have adopted the regulation would be
notified of the Committee decision. The amendment would be considered
adopted unless, within 6 months of such notification, at least
1/3 of the Contracting Parties that have adopted the regulation
have communicated their disagreement with the amendment. If
the requisite number of Contracting Parties did not communicate
their disagreement in a timely manner, the amendment would be
binding upon those Contracting Parties that have adopted the
regulation and have not declared their disagreement with the
amendment.
   The proposed revision also provides that, if at least 20
percent of the Contracting Parties that have adopted the regulation
declare that they wish to continue applying the unamended regulation,
the unamended regulation would be regarded as an option to the
amended regulation and would be incorporated formally as such
in the regulation. Further, the proposed revision allows countries
to enforce more stringent standards than those contained in
the annexed regulations by either electing not to adopt any
particular regulation annexed to the Agreement, or, if the country
has in fact adopted a particular regulation and has failed to
have the regulation amended, by ceasing to apply the regulation
upon one year's notice.
   In addition, while the Agreement addresses the regulation
of "motor vehicle equipment and parts," the proposed revision
to the Agreement provides for the regulation of "wheeled vehicles,
equipment and parts." The proposed revision, however, does
not recognize other classes of products that are mobile sources
of air pollutants, such as off-highway engines.

Possible U.S. Action Concerning the Proposed Revised Agreement
   The United States is considering whether it should become
a Contracting Party to the proposed revised Agreement. In considering
this option, NHTSA and EPA note that the Agreement does not
explicitly recognize any regulatory and enforcement system (such
as that of the United States) other than a type approval system,
notwithstanding a provision of the proposed revision which implicitly
gives a Party that adopts a regulation the option of electing
not to implement that regulation through a type approval system.
NHTSA and EPA believe that if the United States is to consider
becoming a Contracting Party to the proposed revision, explicit
recognition in the revised Agreement of the United States motor
vehicle safety and environmental regulatory/enforcement system
is necessary so that regulations promulgated under the United
States system would have a status equal to that of the European
regulatory/enforcement system under the Agreement. It is unclear
under the proposed revision what the relationship and obligations
would be among those Contracting Parties that implement regulations
through a type approval system and those Contracting Parties
that implement the same regulations through other regulatory
enforcement systems, such as a self-certification system.
   In addition, explicit recognition of non-type approval regulatory
enforcement systems in the proposed revision could encourage
countries that do not already have a regulatory system that
addresses motor vehicle safety and environmental standards to
consider adoption of one of those systems. If, as the proposed
revision currently stands, only the type approval system is
explicitly recognized, countries that currently do not have
a regulatory system would be more likely to respond in either
of two ways. They would be likely to adopt the type approval
system or to develop completely novel systems. If the former
occurs, the type approval system could become so widely adopted
that there would be increasing pressure on countries using other
regulatory/enforcement systems to convert to a type approval
system. If the latter occurs, there could be a proliferation
of different novel regulatory/enforcement systems.
   As with all United States regulations, a regulation under
the proposed revision to the Agreement could not be adopted
by any Federal agency unless there is domestic legislation to
authorize such adoption and the agency follows the rulemaking
procedures of the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) and any
other applicable statute. Since the APA requires the appropriate
Federal agency to solicit and consider public comments in promulgating
regulations, the United States cannot agree in advance to adopt
a proposed or annexed ECE regulation as a final rule.
   Thus, if the United States were to become a Contracting Party
to the proposed revision, the United States could not accept
a regulation proposed for annexation by other countries unless
the regulation is identical to a regulation already adopted
by the United States or is proposed and adopted through the
United States rulemaking procedures described above. It would
therefore vote against "establishment" of the regulation,
indicate its disagreement with the annexation of the regulation,
or elect not to adopt the regulation in the event of annexation.
Further, notwithstanding the fact that the Agreement is being
revised to promote compatibility of motor vehicle standards,
the United States would not adopt a regulation that would lower
the level of protection provided by current U.S. domestic safety
and environmental standards.
   Under the revision as proposed, the United States would probably
not be able to have its regulations adopted by Contracting Parties
and annexed to the Agreement. The United States could not propose
a regulation for annexation unless the regulation is identical
to a regulation already adopted by the United States. The test
procedures in United States regulations are premised partially
or wholly on a self-certification system and therefore, unless
a self-certification system were explicitly recognized in the
proposed revision to the Agreement, a U.S. safety regulation
would, in all likelihood, not be accepted by the requisite number
of Contracting Parties. This is because the regulation might
not be enforceable through a type approval system. However,
explicit recognition of other enforcement systems could, for
example, allow for different enforcement options within an annexed
regulation. For air and noise pollution emissions regulations
also, the regulatory systems of the current Contracting Parties
are also sufficiently different from the U.S. systems so that
the current Contracting Parties would not be likely to accept
regulations proposed by the United States for the same reason.

   Issued on: March 2, 1994.

Christopher A. Hart,
Deputy Administrator.

[FR Doc. 94-5181 Filed 3-3-94; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4910-59-M



The Contents entry for this article reads as follows:

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (1958); motor vehicle
    equipment and parts regulation revision, 10846