A special celebration event was organised on 20 June 2023 in the Palais des Nations, Connected to the 190th WP.29 session. The purpose of the event was to celebrate the signing of the Agreement on 25 June 1998, as well as to highlight the progress and impact over the past 25 years. Through its Executive Committee, AC.3, the 1998 Agreement has continuously developed UN Global Technical Regulations (GTRs) that established a globally applicable legal framework for the certification and testing of vehicles and their parts within the areas covered by the Agreement.
The celebration involved keywords by the Special Envoy for Road Safety Mr. Jean Todt and the Executive Secretary Ms. Olga Algayerova. Ms Algayerova stated:
“The 1998 Agreement, together with the 1958 Agreement and the 1997 Agreements that WP.29 administers, have played an essential role in formulating automotive safety and environmental Regulations that are science-based. – The underlying process for our work is indeed objective, reproducible, data-based, and technologically and economically feasible.”
Further keynotes were provided by the Director of the Sustainable Transport Division Mr. Yuwei Li, and the AC.3 Chairman Mr. Takashi Naono and the Agreement’s founding parties, such as the United States, Japan and the European Community, chairpersons of its Executive Committee, AC.3, and a number of representatives of the, currently in total, 39 Contracting Parties.
The event also included perspectives from former chairs and industry, including, among others, OICA and IMMA. IMMA Secretary General, Mr. Edwin Bastiaensen, stated in this address:
“After 25 years of experience, we can now clearly confirm that the GTRs (Global Technical Regulations) proved a unique tool for the creation of worldwide technical requirements involving stakeholders from the major motorcycle markets and manufacturing regions in the world. Today, six out of the 23 GTRs are dedicated to motorcycles. They address brakes, controls and tell tales and diverse environmental performance requirements and test methods.”
Mr. Bastiaensen closed his statement by adding: “the public-private collaboration within the frameworks of the 58 and 98 Agreements has been leveraging many economic, environmental and societal benefits of motorcycles”.
About the World Forum WP.29
WP.29’s role and that of its Working Parties is to develop new UN Regulations, UN GTRs, or UN Rules, establishing a globally applicable legal framework for the certification and testing of vehicles within the areas covered by the three Vehicle Agreements.
About the 1998 Agreement and Global Technical Regulations
The UN 1998 Agreement concerns the “Establishing of Global Technical Regulations for Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts which can be fitted and/or be used on Wheeled Vehicles”.
The UN GTRs are the technical regulations being established under the 1998 Agreement and will not refer to a type approval or certification procedure as mentioned in the EU Directives or UN Regulations. The UN Regulations are considered candidates for the elaboration of UN GTRs.
About IMMA
IMMA, as the voice of the global Motorcycle Industry, has a membership of Powered Two- and Three-Wheeler (PTW) manufacturers’ associations from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Europe, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, USA, and Vietnam. IMMA is an accredited NGO with UN ECOSOC since 1956, to contribute to bodies under the Inland Transport Committee (ITC). IMMA attends and contributes with expertise on PTWs. IMMA is based in Geneva, Switzerland.