UNECE Vehicle Regulations are being developed at the international level for approval by the World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations (WP.29), a United Nations working group responsible for developing regulations on internationally recognized vehicles. WP.29 was established under a 1958 UNECE Agreement open for signature by all Un Member States. States signatories to the 1958 Convention (also known as “Contracting Parties”) undertake to incorporate any new regulations developed by WP.29 into their national legal framework for motor vehicles. In July 2020, the European Union, Japan and South Korea announced formal plans to implement the WP.29 Cybersecurity Regulation (“ECE-TRANS-WP29-2020-079-Revised”). UNECE vehicle regulations are currently applied in 54 countries around the world, including all 26(27?) Member States of the European Union, Japan and South Korea. An updated list of the status of the 1958 UNECE Vehicle Regulation Convention, including signatory countries (i.e. Contracting Parties), can be found here. From January 2021, when the United Nations Cybersecurity Regulations (WP.29) “enter into force”, Contracting Parties (countries that have signed the 1958 UNECE Vehicle Regulation Convention) can start incorporating the final language and regulatory documents into national legislation. Thus, the entry into force of the Regulation at the United Nations and its transposition into the national law of a particular country will not take place simultaneously. For example, if Russia were to implement the Cybersecurity Regulation in July 2021 while Germany implemented it in July 2022, vehicles sold on the Russian market after July 2021 would have to meet the requirements of the “ECE-TRANS-WP29-2020-079-Revised” standard, while vehicles sold in Germany would not have to meet these requirements until July 2022. The first signatories to the 1958 agreement were Italy (28 March), the Netherlands (30 March), Germany (19 June), France (26 June), Hungary (30 June), Sweden and Belgium. Originally, the agreement allowed participation only by UNECE member countries, but in 1995 the agreement was revised to allow non-EEC countries to participate. Current participants include the European Union and its member countries, as well as non-UNECE members such as Norway, Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Tunisia, as well as remote regions such as South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Thailand and Malaysia.
Most countries, even if they do not formally participate in the 1958 agreement, recognize UN regulations and reflect the content of UN regulations in their own national requirements or allow the import, registration and use of UN-tested vehicles or both. The United States and Canada (with the exception of lighting regulations) are the two main exceptions; UN regulations are generally not recognized and UN-compliant vehicles and equipment are not approved for import, sale or use in both regions unless they are tested for compliance with the region`s vehicle safety laws or for limited non.B-driving use (e.B. auto show displays). [5] Its main task is to keep its vehicle regulations up-to-date and relevant in order to support international trade and market access. In 2020, the Parties (CPs) to the UNECE Agreement increased from 1958 to 54, including all EU countries and other OECD countries (see Figure 1 below) such as Japan, Turkey, Russia, Australia and South Africa. .