Speeches: Juan Ramos Garcia, Chief of the Technology Section, UNECE Transport Division

International Bus & Coach Forum Profitable Bus & Coach Operations in or with China
	Shanghai, PRC, 16 March 2005

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2nd Interactive Session Juan Ramos Garcia, Chief of the Technology Section, UNECE Transport Division

The need of Motor Vehicle Regulations

Transport is not only a key factor for economic development and social well being in modern societies but also vital to the well functioning of the economic activities, to the production and distribution of goods as well as to trade. In addition, transport has become an important economic sector itself, accounting for about 10 % of the GDP and about 8 % of employment in modern economies. However, the transport system brings about numerous and varied hazards, accident risks and emissions into the atmosphere of noise, gases and particulates which have to be identified and managed. This requires also the adoption of measures to protect transport users from those hazards and risks.

Motor vehicles play a key role in both these positive effects and negative effects. Vehicles are the cause of road traffic deaths and injuries to their occupants or to other road users. In addition, given the very large and increasing number of vehicles, their emissions of pollutants and noise present serious problems to the health of people and to the environment, including at the global level. Their consumption of fossil fuels is also a threat for the world's energy resources.

In order to minimize those risks, impacts and threats, the construction of vehicles requires regulation by Governments. At the same time, the need for safer and cleaner vehicles has prompted a constant flow of technological improvements. It is, therefore, vital that regulation be constantly updated to introduce those new technologies and make them mandatory. Furthermore, as vehicles cross borders and their global trade, it is also essential that vehicle regulation be internationally harmonized. All this requires cooperation and dialogue among Governments and between Governments and the vehicle manufacturing industry. In the past, Governments regulated vehicle construction on a national basis. However, they quickly realized that it was crucial to develop international regulations.

This is the role of the UNECE, more particularly the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), which work under UNECE auspices and was the pioneer on international harmonization of vehicle regulations.

The role of the UNECE in Vehicle Regulation

In this area, the UNECE plays a unique, global role. The World Forum, better known as WP.29, is today the regulatory and standard setting body on motor vehicles at the global level. It develops the international regulations according to which road vehicles, their equipment and parts must be manufactured. The aim of these regulations is to harmonize and improve the active and passive safety of vehicles and reduce their pollutant emissions and noise. Created in 1952 as the Working Party on the Construction of Vehicles (WP.29), this body brings together Government experts and also experts from the vehicle manufacturing industry, the transport industry and associations of users and consumers. In the year 2000, WP.29 became the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations. Six Working Parties, subsidiaries to WP.29, assure the technical expertise to develop international Regulations that cover all types of vehicles, including buses and coaches. The UNECE Transport Division provides the secretariat support to these bodies.

Vehicle regulations are developed in the framework of three international Agreements, which provide the appropriate international legal framework for this activity. These are: the 1958 Agreement and the 1998 (global) Agreement on regulations for the construction of vehicles and the 1997 Agreement on rules for periodical technical inspections of vehicles in use. The most active of them so far is the 1958 Agreement. 43 countries, including Japan, Korea, Australia and New Zealand, most of European countries and the EU are Parties to the 1958 Agreement. In the framework of this Agreement, 121 UNECE Regulations have been developed and are in force.

Harmonizing vehicle regulations

UNECE Regulations have been the first international harmonized regulations adopted in Europe. They were quickly followed by the European Union Directives, which were developed in parallel to them. Both, Geneva and Brussels, forum work closely keeping the prescriptions equivalents. Since the globalization of the World Forum activities in 2000, the European Union has increased the recognition of the UNECE Regulations as equivalent to its Directives. Even more, the EU is now in the process of making a reference to the UNECE Regulation in the place of the Directives technical prescriptions. This policy will even reinforce the global role of WP.29 and UNECE Regulations will be the set of technical provisions that vehicles must comply to be put into the European market.

Tangible results

These UNECE Regulations have made motor vehicles much safer and more environmentally sound. Regarding road traffic safety, it should be noted that, in the past 30 years in Europe, while road traffic has tripled, therefore, bringing growth and competitiveness to European countries and prosperity to Europeans, the number of people killed in road accidents on average per year has been reduced to one half.

With regard to vehicle emissions, the reductions achieved by UNECE Regulations are quite impressive. UNECE Regulations set up the maximum admissible level of vehicle emissions for the various gaseous pollutants (CO, HC, NO_x) and particles. The successive amendments to those Regulations have drastically reduced these emission limits for both petrol and diesel vehicles. In comparison with the emission limits established in 1970, the emission limits of CO, HC and NO_x introduced by regulation for passenger cars for 2008 are more than 20 times lower. With regard to particulates, regulatory work started later, but already the emission limits of particulates are about 10 times lower than the 1990 limits. Regarding heavy good vehicles, the reduction has not been so spectacular, but also considerable. In comparison with the 1988 limits, current limits for CO are 82% lower, for HC 72% lower, and for NO_x 65% lower. The reduction of particulate emissions reached the 72% in comparison with the 1992 limits. As to noise emissions, they have been reduced by more than 70 %.

The UNECE Regulations have certainly contributed to these achievements. However, there is no room for complacency. In 2002 over 1,2 million people were killed on the world's roads. In addition, road transport continues to grow. In the whole world, the vehicle fleet is about 1 billion vehicles and is increasing, leading to growing emissions, including CO₂ emissions. Therefore, we must do better. We must continue to introduce new technological developments, improve further active and passive safety of vehicles and reduce their emissions further. Work is under way to improve active and passive safety and to abate further the emission limits.

Developing global technical regulations

In view of the results achieved, UNECE Regulations are increasingly applied in countries all over the world. However, in parallel, the WP.29 is developing global technical regulations in the framework of the 1998 Agreement.

This Agreement, which has 22 Contracting Parties, including the US, Canada, Japan, the People's Republic of China and the European Union, provides the legal framework for the development of global technical regulations (gtr) for vehicles and their components. The first global vehicle regulation, concerning door locks and door retention components, was adopted in November 2004. Work is in progress on sixteen other areas that are considered of priority importance. These include installation of lighting devices, brakes for motorcycles and passenger vehicles, safety glazing, pedestrian safety, lower anchorages and tethers for child safety seats, head restraints, heavy-duty vehicle emission test procedure, heavy-duty on board diagnostic (OBD), motorcycle emission test cycle as well as hydrogen and fuel cell vehicles.

It is expected that in the following two or three years several global technical regulations, covering some of this areas, will be adopted and new areas of global harmonization could be incorporated in the programme of work of the World Forum.

Once the 19988 Agreement reach the same regulatory development than the 1958 Agreement both set of prescriptions will be equivalent and the UNECE Regulations developed in the framework of the 1958 Agreement could make a reference to the prescriptions of the global technical regulations developed in the framework of the 1998 Agreement. Nevertheless, the type approval system and the mutual recognition of the approvals granted in both the 1958 Agreement and in the EU, will imply that the 1958 Agreement be necessary for countries interested in the European market.

Resume of the statement on the global approach to the introduction and harmonization of technical regulations for buses and coaches

Motor vehicles play a key role in transport facilitating the economic development and well doing in modern societies, but also have negative effects, being the cause of road accidents and of the emission of pollutants and noise. To minimize these negative effects, the construction of vehicles requires regulation by Governments. Due to the globalization of trade and vehicle construction, the regulatory process has to be worldwide harmonized. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) plays a unique role for global harmonization. The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29) is today the regulatory and standard setting body on motor vehicles at the global level. It develops the international regulations according to which road vehicles, their equipment and parts must be manufactured. The aim of these regulations is to harmonize and improve the active and passive safety of vehicles and reduce their pollutant emissions and noise.

The World Forum develops vehicle regulations, applied worldwide, under the 1958 Agreement (121 UNECE Regulations) and begins to develop global technical regulations (gtr) under the 1998 Agreement (1 gtr adopted, working is in process for 15 gtr). These regulations include the highest level of requirements in safety and environmental performance and are constantly updated in order to incorporate new technologies. The regulations developed under the two Agreements must be parallel and both Agreements will coexist. The regulations have demonstrated their efficiency by reducing to one half the number of people killed in road accidents in countries applying them, despite that the number of vehicles on these countries has tripled and by drastically reduced the level emission of pollutants of new vehicles.

Countries, including those of the European Union, applying current UNECE Regulations will continue to apply them or its alternative EU Directives as a requirement to register new vehicles in their territories.

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