World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations

The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). It is tasked with creating a uniform set of regulations for vehicle design to facilitate international trade.

The forum works on regulations covering vehicle safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency and theft-resistance.

1958 Agreement

The core of the Forum's work is based around the 1958 Agreement, formally titled "Agreement concerning the adoption of uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles and the conditions for reciprocal recognition of approvals granted on the basis of these prescriptions". This forms a legal framework whereby participating countries agree a common set of ECE Regulations for type approval of vehicles and components. When an item is type approved for a regulation by one participating country, then the approval is accepted by all other participating countries.

Originally, the 1958 Agreement allowed participation of ECE member countries only, but in 1995 the agreement was revised to allow non-ECE members to participate.

Items approved as meeting an ECE Regulation are marked with an E and a number, within in a circle. The number indicates which country approved the item, and other surrounding letters and digits indicate the precise version of the regulation met and the type approval number, respectively.

List of participating countries

As of 2006, the participants to the 1958 Agreement, with their ECE country code, are:

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Most countries, even if not formally participating in the 1958 agreement, recognise the ECE Regulations and permit the use and importation of ECE-approved vehicles.

List of UNECE Regulations

As of 2007, there are 123 ECE Regulations. Most regulations cover a single vehicle component or technology. A partial list of current regulations applying to passenger cars follows (different regulations may apply to heavy vehicles, motorcycles etc).

= General lighting =

* R3 — Retroreflecting devices
* R4 — Illumination of rear registration plates
* R6 — Direction indicators
* R7 — Front and rear position lamps, stop lamps and end-outline marker lamps
* R19 — Front fog lamps
* R23 — Reversing lights
* R37 — Filament lamps (bulbs)
* R38 — Rear fog lamps
* R48 — Installation of lighting and light-signalling devices
* R77 — Parking lamps
* R87 — Daytime running lamps
* R91 — Sidemarker lamps
* R119 — Cornering lamps
* R123 — AFS lamps

Headlamps

* R1 - Headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam, equipped with R2 or HS1 bulbs (superseded by R112, but still valid for existing approvals)
* R5 - Sealed Beam headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam
* R8 - Headlamps equipped with replaceable single-filament tungsten-halogen bulbs (superseded by R112, but still valid for existing approvals)
* R20 - Headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam and equipped with halogen double-filament H4 bulbs (superseded by R112, but still valid for existing approvals)
* R31 — Halogen sealed beam headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam
* R45 — Headlamp cleaners
* R98 — Headlamps equipped with gas-discharge light sources
* R99 — Gas-discharge light sources for use in approved gas-discharge lamp units of power-driven vehicles
* R112 — Headlamps emitting an asymmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam and equipped with filament bulbs
* R113 — Headlamps emitting a symmetrical passing beam and/or a driving beam and equipped with filament bulbs

Instrumentation/controls

* R35 — arrangement of foot controls
* R39 — speedometer equipment
* R46 — rear-view mirrors
* R79 — steering equipment

Safety

* R11 — door latches and door retention components
* R13-H — braking (passenger cars)
* R14 — safety-belt anchorages
* R16 — safety-belts and restraint systems
* R27 — advance-warning triangles
* R42 — front and rear protective devices (bumpers, etc.)
* R43 — safety glazing materials and their installation on vehicles
* R94 — protection of the occupants in the event of a frontal collision
* R95 — protection of the occupants in the event of a lateral collision
* R116 — protection of motor vehicles against unauthorized use

Environmental/performance

* R10 — electromagnetic compatibility
* R24 — Engine power measurement, smoke emissions, engine type approval
* R51 — noise emissions
* R68 — measurement of the maximum speed
* R83 — emission of pollutants according to engine fuel requirements
* R84 — measurement of fuel consumption
* R85 — internal combustion engines or electric drive trains — measurement of the net power and the maximum 30 minutes power of electric drive trains
* R101 — measurement of the emission of carbon dioxide and fuel consumption
* R117 — rolling sound emissions of tyres

UNECE versus FMVSS

The most notable non-signatory to the 1958 Agreement is the United States, which has its own Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and does not recognise UNECE approvals. As such vehicles cannot be imported or exported between the U.S. and most of the rest of the world without appropriate modifications. Canada has its own Canada Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, broadly similar to the FMVSS, but Canada does also accept UNECE-compliant headlamps.

One of the most contentious differences is the design of headlamps; see that article for more information. The Citroën DS article offers a pictorial illustration of US-model vs. UNECE-model headlamps during the 1940-1983 era when US regulations required sealed beam headlamps.

It is not currently possible to produce a single car design that meets both UNECE and FMVSS approvals, but it is growing easier as both sets of regulations evolve. Given the size of the U.S. vehicle market, and differing marketing strategies in North America vs. the rest of the world, many manufacturers produce vehicles in three versions: North American, rest-of-world right-hand drive (RHD) and rest-of-world left-hand-drive (LHD).

OICA

Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA) hosts on its web site the working documents from various United Nations expert groups including World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations [ [http://oica.net/category/worldwide-harmonization/un-expert-group-documents OICA un-expert-group-documents] ] .

References

ee also

*Automotive lighting
*Car safety
*Headlamps
*Not Invented Here syndrome
*NHTSA
*Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 108
*Vehicle regulation

External links

* [http://www.unece.org/trans/main/welcwp29.htm UNECE Vehicle Regulations]
* [http://www.unece.org/trans/main/wp29/WP29-FAQ-2005.pdf World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations FAQ]