G/TBT/N/USA/1980  
5 April 2023  
(23-2341) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA  
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:   
Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) [2011]  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:   
Please submit comments to: USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point, Email: usatbtep@nist.gov  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [X], 2.10.1 [  ], 5.6.2 [X], 5.7.1 [  ], 3.2 [  ], 7.2 [  ], 
other :  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Passenger 
equipment, high -speed trainsets; Quality (ICS code(s): 03.120); Mechanical testing (ICS 
code(s): 19.060) ; Railway engineering in general (ICS code(s): 45.020)  
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:  Passenger 
Equipment Safety Standards; Standards for High -Speed Trainsets; (67 page(s), in 
English)  
6. Description of content:  Notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) - FRA is proposing to 
amend its Passenger Equipment Safety Standards to modernize Tier I and Tier III safety 
appliance requirements; update the pre -revenue compliance documentation and testing 
requirements; establish crashwo rthiness requirements for individual Tier I -compliant 
vehicles equipped with crash energy management (CEM); establish standards for Tier III 
inspection, testing, and maintenance (ITM) and movement of defective equipment 
(MODE); incorporate general safety r equirements from FRA's Railroad Locomotive Safety 
Standards for Tier III trainsets; and provide for periodic inspection of emergency lighting 
to ensure proper functioning.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicabl e: Prevention of deceptive practices and consumer protection; Protection of 
human health or safety; Quality requirements  
8. Relevant documents:   
88 Federal Register (FR) 19730, 3 April 2023; Title 49 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 
Parts 216, 231, and 238:  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2023-04-03/html/2023 -05576.htm  
https: //www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2023-04-03/pdf/2023 -05576.pdf  G/TBT/N/USA/1980  
 
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  This notice of proposed rulemaking is identified by Docket Number FRA -2021-0067. The 
Docket Folder is available on Regulations.gov at 
https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FRA -2021-0067/document  and provides access to 
primary documents as well as comments received. Documents are also accessible from 
Regulations.gov  by searching the Docket Number. WTO Members and their stakeholders 
are asked to submit comments to the USA TBT Enquiry Point . Comments received by the 
USA TBT Enquiry Point from WTO Members and their stakeholders by 4pm Eastern Time  
on 2 June 2023 will be shared with the regulator and will also be submitted to the Docket  
on Regulations.gov if received within the comment period.  
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined  
10. Final date for comments:  2 June 2023  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2023/TBT/USA/23_8727_00_e.pdf