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1. The Contracting Parties shall establish, through an Administrative Committee made up of all the Contracting Parties in conformity with the rules of procedure set out in the Appendix to this Agreement and on the basis of the following articles, paragraphs, UN Regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles. Conditions for granting type approvals and their reciprocal recognition will be included for use by Contracting Parties which choose to implement Regulations through type approval.
For the purposes of this Agreement:
The term “wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts” shall include any wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts whose characteristics have a bearing on vehicle safety, protection of the environment, energy saving and the performance of anti-theft technology.
The term “type approval pursuant to a UN Regulation” indicates an administrative procedure by which the approval authorities of one Contracting Party declare, after carrying out the required verifications that a type of vehicle, equipment or part submitted by the manufacturer conforms to the requirements of the given UN Regulation. Afterwards the manufacturer certifies that each vehicle, equipment or parts put on the market were produced to be identical with the approved product.
The term “whole vehicle type approval” indicates that type approvals granted pursuant to applicable UN Regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts of a vehicle are integrated into an approval of the whole vehicle according to the provisions of the administrative IWVTA system.
The term “version of a UN Regulation” indicates that a UN Regulation, following its adoption and establishment, may subsequently be amended following the procedures described in this Agreement, in particular Article 12. The unamended UN Regulation as well as the UN Regulation, after integration of subsequent amendment(s), are considered to be separate versions of that UN Regulation.
The term “applying a UN Regulation” indicates that a UN Regulation enters into force for a Contracting Party. When doing so, Contracting Parties have the possibility to keep their own national/regional legislation. If they wish, they may substitute their national/regional legislation by the requirements of the UN Regulations they are applying, but they are not bound by the Agreement to do so. However, Contracting Parties shall accept, as an alternative to the relevant part of their national/regional legislation, UN type approvals granted pursuant to the latest version of UN Regulations applied in their country/region. The rights and obligations of Contracting Parties applying a UN Regulation are detailed in the various articles of this Agreement.
For the application of the UN Regulations there could be various administrative procedures alternative to type approval. The only alternative procedure generally known and applied in certain member States of the Economic Commission for Europe is the self-certification by which the manufacturer certifies, without any preliminary administrative control, that each product put on the market conforms to the given UN Regulation; the competent administrative authorities may verify by random sampling on the market that the self-certified products comply with the requirements of the given UN Regulation.
2. The Administrative Committee shall be composed of all the Contracting Parties in accordance with the rules of procedure set out in the Appendix.
A UN Regulation, after having been established in accordance with the procedure indicated in the Appendix, shall be communicated by the Administrative Committee to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, hereinafter called “Secretary-General”. As soon as possible thereafter, the Secretary-General shall give notification of this UN Regulation to the Contracting Parties.
The UN Regulation will be considered as adopted unless, within a period of six months from its notification by the Secretary-General, more than one-fifth of the Contracting Parties at the time of notification have informed the Secretary-General of their disagreement with the UN Regulation.
The UN Regulation shall cover the following:
a) Wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts concerned;
b) Technical requirements, which shall be performance oriented wherever appropriate and not design-restrictive, that give objective consideration to available technologies, costs and benefits as appropriate, and may include alternatives;
c) Test methods by which any performance requirements are to be demonstrated;
d) Conditions for granting type approval and their reciprocal recognition including administrative provisions, any approval markings and conditions for ensuring conformity of production;
e) The date(s) on which the UN Regulation enters into force, including the date when Contracting Parties applying it can issue approvals pursuant to that UN Regulation, and the date from which they shall accept approvals (if different);
f) An information document to be provided by the manufacturer.
The UN Regulation may, if needed, include references to the laboratories accredited by the approval authorities where acceptance tests of the types of wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts submitted for approval shall be carried out.
In addition to the above-mentioned UN Regulations, this Agreement provides for establishing a UN Regulation to introduce a system of Whole Vehicle Type Approval. This UN Regulation shall set the scope, administrative procedures, and technical requirements that can include different levels of stringency in one version of the said UN Regulation.
Notwithstanding other provisions of Article 1 and Article 12, a Contracting Party applying the UN Regulation on IWVTA shall only be obliged to accept those type approvals granted pursuant to the highest level of stringency of the latest version of the said UN Regulation.
This Agreement also includes Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions applicable to all UN Regulations annexed to this Agreement and to all Contracting Parties applying one or more UN Regulations.
3. When a UN Regulation has been adopted, the Secretary-General shall so notify as soon as possible all the Contracting Parties, specifying which Contracting Parties have objected, or have notified their agreement but intention not to begin applying the UN Regulation at the date of entry into force, and in respect of which the UN Regulation shall not enter into force.
4. The adopted UN Regulation shall enter into force on the date(s) specified therein as a UN Regulation annexed to this Agreement for all Contracting Parties which have not notified either their disagreement, or their intention not to apply it on that date.
5. When depositing its instrument of accession, any new Contracting Party may declare that it will not apply certain UN Regulations then annexed to this Agreement or that it will not apply any of them. If, at that time, the procedure laid down in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is in progress for a draft or adopted UN Regulation, the Secretary-General shall communicate such draft or adopted UN Regulation to the new Contracting Party and it shall enter into force as a UN Regulation for the new Contracting Party unless this Contracting Party notifies its disagreement with the adopted UN Regulation within a period of six months after the deposit of its instrument of accession. The Secretary-General shall notify all the Contracting Parties of the date of such entry into force. The Secretary-General shall also communicate to them all declarations concerning the non-application of certain UN Regulations that any Contracting Party may make in accordance with the terms of this paragraph.
6. Any Contracting Party applying a UN Regulation may at any time notify the Secretary-General, subject to one year’s notice, about its intention to cease applying that UN Regulation. Such notification shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the other Contracting Parties.
Approvals previously granted pursuant to that UN Regulation by that Contracting Party shall remain valid unless they are withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of Article 4.
If a Contracting Party ceases to issue approvals to a UN Regulation it shall:
a) Maintain proper supervision on conformity of production of products for which it previously granted type approval;
b) Take the necessary steps set out in Article 4 when advised of non-conformity by a Contracting Party that continues to apply the UN Regulation;
c) Continue to notify the other Contracting Parties of withdrawal of approvals as set out in Article 5;
d) Continue to grant extensions to existing approvals.
7. Any Contracting Party not applying a UN Regulation may at any time notify the Secretary-General that it intends henceforth to apply it and the UN Regulation will then enter into force for this Party on the sixtieth day after this notification. The Secretary-General shall notify all the Contracting Parties of every entry into force of a UN Regulation for a new Contracting Party affected in accordance with the terms of this paragraph.
8. The Contracting Parties for which a UN Regulation is in force shall hereinafter be referred to as “the Contracting Parties applying a UN Regulation”.