Transmitted by the experts from the Russian Federation,
the United Kingdom, and OICA
Informal Document IWVTA-SGR0-05-03
(5th IWVTA-SGR0, 7 March 2013,
agenda item 3)
UN Regulation No. 0 - IWVTA Explanatory Note
Note: This document has been prepared following the decision (Action item 1) of the
4th meeting of the Working Subgroup of experts on development of the draft UN Regulation
No. 0 (SGR0) for the purpose of reaching common understanding the International Whole
Vehicle Type Approval (IWVTA) procedure under the framework of the 1958 Geneva
Agreement. This document introduces statements, which further may be used as legal
provisions enabling effective application of the IWVTA process.
Introduction
UN Regulation No. 0 seeks to establish an international whole vehicle type approval
(IWVTA) scheme within the framework of the 1958 Agreement. The IWVTA scheme
increase the advantages of individual UN Regulations at a component and/or vehicle
system level to the whole vehicle and so creates opportunities to simplify implementation
by contracting parties and the wider adoption of mutual recognition of whole vehicles. The
major objective of the IWVTA procedure is enhancement of the mutual recognition of
vehicle type approvals by the means of:

Achieving wider acceptance of the vehicle/component type approvals pursuant to the
UN Regulations;

Achieving more transparency in the national vehicle type approval procedures in the
countries applying the IWVTA regulation;

Minimising administrative burdens in obtaining national/regional vehicle type
approvals;

Providing for flexibility in the requirements applied at national level, thereby helping
those Contracting Parties developing new vehicle approval requirements.
Realising those objectives is beneficial for Governments in delivering transparent, robust
and reliable processes for vehicle type approval; for industry by having access to quicker
and more cost efficient type approval; and for consumers, who benefit from vehicles
meeting uniform and consistent requirements at lower prices.
Scope of IWVTA
It is recognised that these objectives cannot be reached from the very beginning due to the
current level of harmonisation between the national requirements of contracting parties . In
this first version of UN Regulation No.0, the number of key provisions are not sufficient to
certify a whole vehicle. In this context, it is only a “partial vehicle type approval”, even
though it is referred to as “IWVTA”. At a later stage, it is envisaged that this partial vehicle
approval should develop to a complete whole vehicle type approval.
IWVTA-SGR0-05-…
Other limitations apply to this present version of UN Regulation No. 0:

It is applicable only to vehicles of category M1;

It does not consider the specific aspects of approval for vehicles manufactured in more
than one stage;

It is not intended to cover special certification schemes in the Contracting Parties,
which may allow for deviations from requirements e.g. for vehicles produced in small
series or for special purposes.
However, the partial vehicle type approval introduced by this UN Regulation can be used in
Contracting Parties applying this Regulation as a basis for their national/regional whole
vehicle type approval processes. In those national/regional processes additional
requirements which are not covered by the IWVTA may be required .
The implementation of requirements contained in
UN Regulation No. 0
A. Technical requirements
Unlike in other UN Regulations the technical requirements for UN Regulation No. 0 are not
explicitly contained in this Regulation itself, but are incorporated by reference to a list of
UN technical regulations which can be found in Annex 4. There are two types or technical
requirements:
1. Minimum requirements (Section 1 of Annex 4)
Minimum requirements must be fulfilled in order to be able to certify a vehicle pursuant to
UN Regulation No. 0. In practice this means that a certificate according to each UN
regulation listed in the Section 1 must be provided in order to verify compliance with the
requirements. [Likely examples: braking system, seat belt anchorages, door locks and
hinges.]
The systems covered in this section must be fitted to the vehicle, meet the requirements,
and be type approved. This means that for the UN Regulations covering more than one subsystem (e.g. UN Regulation No. 13H covering braking performance, electronic stability
control (ESC) and brake assist systems (BAS)) a separate item shall be designated in the list
of Section 1 or alternatively the corresponding Regulations can be divided.
2. If-fitted requirements (Section 2 of Annex 4)
The systems covered by if-fitted requirements need not be fitted to a vehicle submitted for
IWVTA (Likely examples: mechanical couplings, integrated child seats). However, if the
systems listed in Section 2 are fitted voluntarily, then they must meet the requirements and
be type approved.
It should be noted that as soon as a system covered by an if-fitted requirement becomes
mandated by a contracting party applying IWVTA, then this system should be transferred
to section 1 of Annex 4. Other contracting parties not mandating the system can then make
use of the flexible IWVTA scheme (see below).
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B. Administrative provisions
The administrative provisions for the type approval procedure, numbering and marking are
laid out in UN Regulation No. 0 and, in principle, do not differ from those in other UN
Regulations.
The flexible IWVTA scheme
Recognising that contracting parties are in largely different situations in terms of the
amount and stringency of requirements necessary for whole vehicle approval is accounted
for by creating a flexible or IWVTA of limited recognition scheme. This flexible scheme
includes elements of the harmonised or universal IWVTA but is not applied on a mutual
recognition basis to all equivalent contracting parties to Regulation No.0 other than on a
permissive bilateral basis or wider agreements between national governments.
Under the flexible scheme lower levels of requirements can be applied, but these must be
based on earlier versions of the UN regulations for each subject included. Hence, for each
of the subjects covered by IWVTA, contracting parties can decide whether to apply the socalled universal level, a lower level based on an earlier version of the respective UN
regulation, or even nor requirement at all.
Definitions

“Universal IWVTA” (or U-IWVTA) means an IWVTA whereby a Contracting Party
certifies that a type of vehicle fully complies with the provisions listed in Sections 1
and all if-fitted requirements for those systems voluntarily fitted on the vehicle (cf.
Section 2 of Annex 4). The Universal I-WVTA shall be accepted by all Contracting
Parties who are signatories to the UN Regulation No. 0.

“IWVTA of limited recognition” or limited IWVTA (L-IWVTA) means an IWVTA
where a Contracting Party certifies that a type of vehicle satisfies only part of the
technical requirements necessary to obtain a universal IWVTA. An IWVTA of limited
recognition may be accepted by Contracting Parties who are signatories to the UN
Regulation No. 0 but those Contracitng parties are are not obliged to accept the limited
approval under the mutual recognition principle.
There are many different possibilities for IWVTA of limited recognition. The technical
requirements to which a particular vehicle type complies can be determined by reference to
the list of requirements annexed to the type approval document.
Issuance of IWVTA
A Contracting Party is able to issue a Universal IWVTA, if that Contracting Party:

Applies UN Regulation No. 0;

Applies all UN Regulations listed in Sections 1 and 2 of Annex 4 of the UN Regulation
No. 0.
This is a consequence of meaning of the term “apply a Regulation” laid out in the [draft]
revised 1958 Agreement.
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Every Contracting Party applying UN Regulation No. 0 has also the right to issue type
approvals of limited recognition.
Acceptance of I-WVTA
1. Universal IWVTA
A Contracting Party applying UN Regulation No. 0 shall accept a Universal IWVTA by
definition.
2. IWVTA of limited recognition
Acceptance of an IWVTA of limited recognition issued by a different contracting party is
the choice of the receiveing contracting party. The decision whether to accept an approval
will depend on the list of requirements that a Contracting Party requires in their territory.
3. For the both cases of a Universal IWVTA and an IWVTA of limited recognition
A Contracting Party applying UN Regulation No. 0 shall not request separate approvals
pursuant to the Regulations listed in the Annex 4 to the UN Regulation No. 0 if compliance
to the separate regulations is certified either by a Universal IWVTA or an IWVTA of
limited recognition.
In the first implementation step IWVTA is only a partial vehicle approval, meaning that for
national type approval it will have to be supplemented by certification to additional national
requirements. Nevertheless, national authorities applying regulation No0 shall accept the
U-IWVTA approval as part of the compliance process for the purpose of the national type
approval of a vehicle type in question. Contracting Parties would therefore only seek proof
of compliance for those requirements not certified by that U-IWVTA. Also contracting
parties may not impose additional requirements nationally for those systems already
governed by IWVTA.
In order to simplify process at a national level, each IWVTA of limited recognition shall
include a list of UN Regulations complied with and this list shall be appended to the
communication on that L-IWVTA.
It is considered important to specify in the Introductory Provisions of the draft UN
Regulation No. 0 that from the date of entry into force of this Regulation, a Contracting
Party applying this Regulation shall accept the type approvals issued pursuant to this
Regulation and not request separate approvals pursuant to the Regulations listed in the
Annex 4 to this Regulation. In case of IWVTA with limited recognition this does not
prevent a Contracting Party from requesting compliance pursuant to Regulations mandated
by a Contracting Party in higher version than that annexed to a communication on that
particular I-WVTA. When type approving a vehicle to this Regulation the transitional
provisions of each Regulation listed in Annex 4 shall be obeyed for the respective vehicle
system.
E. Exchange of information between Contracting Parties
The IWVTA of limited recognition scheme allows many variants of IWVTA In order to
assist contracting parties the list of UN Regulations to which compliance is certified by the
L-IWVTA shall be appended to the communication on that IWVTA.
Acceptance of IWVTA of limited recognition by a Contracting Party depends on the list of
Regulations, which that Contracting Party mandates.
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For efficient application of the IWVTA procedure, an exchange of relevant information
between Contracting Parties shall be provided, bearing in mind that such information is
subject to updating by Contracting Parties from time to time.
Therefore it is proposed to create and maintain a status document (similar to
ECE/TRANS/WP.29/343), so the level of the requirements mandated by each Contracting
Party could be clearly visible. The same approach shall be applied to national/regional
requirements of a Contracting Party in question in order to create transparency about the
whole vehicle approval process.
The activity on keeping records of notifications received and maintaining status document
should be carried out by a designated body. The UN secretariatmay be an appropriate
organization for this task, but the information can also be collected and maintained by
another authoritative organization.
A Contracting Party applying the UN Regulation No. 0 that mandates in its territory a lower
level of any requirement compare to that listed in Sections 1 and 2 of Annex 4 of the UN
Regulation No. 0 shall notify the designated body of such deviation.
For the purpose of transparency a similar provision shall be applied to national/regional
requirements. A Contracting Party that mandates national/regional requirements in addition
to those stipulated by the Annex 4 of the UN Regulation No. 0, shall notify the designated
body of such requirements.
A Contracting Party applying the UN Regulation No. 0 shall mandate the level of the
requirements of the individual UN Regulations listed in the Annex 4 of the UN Regulation
No. 0 as in the notification of that Contracting Party to the designated body and as included
into the status document until that the Contracting Party in question submits a new
notification.
It is recommended that Contracting Parties applying this Regulation send their notifications
as early as possible before enforcement of changes in level of mandated UN Regulations, so
that vehicle manufacturers can adjust their product planning accordingly.
Upgrade of the UN Regulation No. 0
Three times a year WP.29 (AC.1) adopts new series of amendments and new UN
Regulations. Meanwhile Annex 4 to the UN Regulation No. 0 contains references to the
particular UN Regulations and series of amendments of those.
The UN Regulation No. 0 shall include a section “Amendments to this Regulation”, which
shall contain the provisions stipulating the process of introduction of new requirements to
be listed in Annex 4. Such an introduction shall take place [one time] in a year in
conjunction with the [November] session of WP.29 and AC.1.
AC.1 shall vote on inclusion of the newly adopted (within the current year) series of
amendments to existing UN Regulations and of new UN Regulations into the Annex 4 of
the UN Regulation No. 0 subject to the transitional provisions stipulated by those new
series of amendments and UN Regulations with the enforcement date [six months after
November WP.29 and AC.1 session]. This vote shall be based on the proposals provided by
the WP.29 subsidiary working groups, which developed particular new series of
amendments to existing UN Regulations or new UN Regulations.
The consent of WP.29 and AC.1 should be given in regards to the above-mentioned.
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When the list of the Section 1 and/or Section 2 of Annex 4 is extended, this creates a new
series of amendments to UN Regulation No. 0 with a consequent change of the IWVTA
numbering and marking.
A Contracting Party, which mandates the requirements listed in the previous version of UN
Regulation No. 0, shall accept the IWVTA granted pursuant to the later series of
amendments to UN Regulation No. 0.
Outlook on the future evolution of the UN Regulation No. 0
The major objective of the IWVTA procedure is enhancement of the mutual recognition of
vehicle type approvals. The ultimate goal for IWVTA is foreseen as a complete mutual
recognition of whole vehicle approval, without any additional national requirements or
approvals remaining (WP29-156-21-Rev.1).
However, from the standpoint of the current regulatory development, at least for some
countries, the said goal probably is not completely achievable.
Although the countries apply significant efforts towards harmonization of technical
requirements, some of the requirements may be critical to the particular countries or regions
and not important for the rest of the Contracting Parties. Such national requirements reflect
the particular concerns related to the specific climatic, road conditions, public demand, etc.
Of course, some national requirements from a certain date may be considered as obsolete.
But other national requirements may be established in response to the appearance of new
risks or completion of safety research or due to availability of new technologies aimed at
improvement of the road traffic safety.
Therefore, for the time being mandating of national/regional requirements in addition to
those listed in the Annex 4 of the UN Regulation No. 0 shall remain at the discretion of a
Contracting Party.
Nevertheless, it is a clear objective that the amount of necessary certification beyond
IWVTA should be minimized as Regulation 0 evolves. It is up for future discussion,
whether there can be administrative means to streamline the coexistence of international
and national/regional certification schemes.
Furthermore, future versions of Regulation 0 may also aim to remove the limitations in
terms of the scope and introduce IWVTA for vehicle categories other than M1.
Once IWVTA has developed from a partial vehicle type approval into a whole vehicle
approval it shall also be discussed to introduce a Certificate of Conformity (CoC) into the
Regulation. Such a document makes no sense currently, because when covering only a
partial vehicle it would have to be complemented by a second nation/regional whole vehicle
CoC.
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Annex I: Illustration of Acceptance of IWVTA
Regulations mandated by Contracting Parties
Line
Contracting
Party
UN Regulations listed in Annex 4 of the UN
Regulation No. 0
X1
1
A
2
A
3
B
4
B
5
C
6
C
7
C
8
C
X2
X3
X4
X5
X6
Other UN
Regulations
Y1
Y2
National /Regional
Regulations
Y3
Z1
Z2
Z3
Legend:
Regulation is mandated by a Contracting Party
Regulation is mandated by a Contracting Party in the previous version
Regulation is not mandated by a Contracting Party
Type approval is granted pursuant to the previous version of the UN Regulation
Universal IWVTA
IWVTA of limited recognition
Explanation of the Table 2:
Lines 1 and 2 reflect the case of the Contracting Party A, which mandates just UN
Regulations listed in Annex 4 of the UN Regulation No. 0 (X1 through X6).
Line 1: The Contracting Party A accepts the Universal IWVTA and does not request
additional compliance assessment.
Line 2: The Contracting Party A accepts the IWVTA of limited recognition (covering UN
Regulations X1 through X5) only if in addition compliance pursuant to the UN Regulation
X6 is also demonstrated.
Lines 3 and 4 reflect the case of the Contracting Party B, which mandates UN Regulations
listed in Annex 4 of the UN Regulation No. 0 (X1 through X5) and the UN Regulation Y1
not included into the list of Annex 4.
Line 3: The Contracting Party B accepts the IWVTA of limited recognition (covering UN
Regulations X1 through X5) and for the purpose of national/regional vehicle type approval
/ registration it will request compliance assessment pursuant to the UN Regulation Y1.
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Line 4: The Contracting Party B accepts the IWVTA of limited recognition (covering UN
Regulations X2 through X6) only if in addition compliance pursuant to the UN Regulation
X1 is also demonstrated.. Also for the purpose of national/regional vehicle type approval /
registration it will request compliance assessment pursuant to the UN Regulation Y1.
Lines 5 through 8 reflect the case of the Contracting Party C, which mandates UN
Regulations listed in Annex 4 of the UN Regulation No. 0: X1, X2, X5 and X6 in their
latest versions, UN Regulation X3 in its previous version. It also mandates the UN
Regulation Y1 not included into the list of Annex 4 and national/regional Regulations Z1
and Z2.
Line 5: The Contracting Party С accepts the Universal IWVTA and for the purpose of
national/regional vehicle type approval / registration it will request compliance assessment
pursuant to the UN Regulation Y1 and national/regional Regulations Z1 and Z2.
Line 6: The Contracting Party С accepts accepts the IWVTA of limited recognition
(covering UN Regulations X1 through X5) only if in addition compliance pursuant to the
UN Regulation X6 is also demonstrated.. Alsofor the purpose of national/regional vehicle
type approval / registration it will request compliance assessment pursuant to the UN
Regulation Y1 and national/regional Regulations Z1 and Z2.
Line 7: The Contracting Party С accepts accepts the IWVTA of limited recognition
(covering UN Regulations X1 through X6 and with type approval is granted pursuant to the
previous version of the UN Regulation X5) only if in addition compliance pursuant to the
UN Regulation X5 in the latest version is also demonstrated.. Also for the purpose of
national/regional vehicle type approval / registration it will request compliance assessment
pursuant to UN Regulation Y1 and national/regional Regulations Z1 and Z2.
Line 8: The Contracting Party С accepts accepts the IWVTA of limited recognition
(covering UN Regulations X1 through X6 and with type approval is granted pursuant to the
previous version of the UN Regulation X3) and for the purpose of national/regional vehicle
type approval / registration it will request compliance assessment pursuant to the UN
Regulation Y1 and national/regional Regulations Z1 and Z2.
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