EN Official Journal of the European Union L 274/4

AGREEMENT

concerning the adoption of harmonised technical United Nations Regulations 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 United Nations Regulations (1)

Revision 3

THE CONTRACTING PARTIES,

HAVING DECIDED to amend the Agreement Concerning the Adoption of Uniform Conditions of Approval and Reciprocal Recognition of Approval for Motor Vehicle Equipment and Parts, done at Geneva on 20 March 1958, as amended on 16 October 1995, and

DESIRING to reduce technical barriers to international trade by defining harmonised technical UN Regulations that it will suffice for certain wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts to fulfil in order to be used in their countries or regions,

RECOGNISING the importance of safety, environmental protection, energy efficiency and anti-theft performance of wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts, which can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles for the development of regulations that are technically and economically feasible and adapted to technical progress,

DESIRING to apply these UN Regulations whenever possible in their countries or regions,

DESIRING to facilitate the acceptance in their countries of the vehicles, equipment and parts, where approved according to these UN Regulations by the approval authorities of another Contracting Party,

DESIRING to establish an international whole vehicle type-approval scheme (IWVTA) within the framework of the Agreement to increase the advantages of individual UN Regulations annexed to the Agreement and so create opportunities to simplify implementation by Contracting Parties and the wider adoption of mutual recognition of type-approvals for whole vehicles, and,

DESIRING to increase the number of Contracting Parties to the Agreement by improving its functioning and reliability, and thus ensure that it remains the key international framework for the harmonisation of technical regulations in the automotive sector,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

1. The Contracting Parties shall establish, through an Administrative Committee made up of all the Contracting Parties in conformity with the rules of procedure set out in the appendix to this Agreement and on the basis of the following articles and paragraphs, UN Regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts which can be fitted and/or be used on wheeled vehicles. Conditions for granting type-approvals and their reciprocal recognition will be included for use by Contracting Parties which choose to implement Regulations through type-approval.

For the purposes of this Agreement:

The term ‘wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts’ shall include any wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts whose characteristics have a bearing on vehicle safety, protection of the environment, energy saving and the performance of anti-theft technology;

The term ‘type-approval pursuant to a UN Regulation’ indicates an administrative procedure by which the approval authorities of one Contracting Party declare, after carrying out the required verifications that a type of vehicle, equipment or part submitted by the manufacturer conforms to the requirements of the given UN Regulation. Afterwards the manufacturer certifies that each vehicle, equipment or parts put on the market were produced to be identical with the approved product.

The term ‘whole vehicle type-approval’ indicates that type-approvals granted pursuant to applicable UN Regulations for wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts of a vehicle are integrated into an approval of the whole vehicle according to the provisions of the administrative IWVTA system.

The term ‘version of a UN Regulation’ indicates that a UN Regulation, following its adoption and establishment, may subsequently be amended following the procedures described in this Agreement, in particular Article 12. The unamended UN Regulation as well as the UN Regulation, after integration of any subsequent amendment(s), are considered to be separate versions of that UN Regulation.

The term ‘applying a UN Regulation’ indicates that a UN Regulation enters into force for a Contracting Party. When doing so, Contracting Parties have the possibility to keep their own national/regional legislation. If they wish, they may substitute their national/regional legislation by the requirements of the UN Regulations they are applying, but they are not bound by the Agreement to do so. However, Contracting Parties shall accept, as an alternative to the relevant part of their national/regional legislation, UN type-approvals granted pursuant to the latest version of UN Regulations applied in their country/region. The rights and obligations of Contracting Parties applying a UN Regulation are detailed in the various articles of this Agreement.

For the application of the UN Regulations there could be various administrative procedures alternative to type-approval. The only alternative procedure generally known and applied in certain Member States of the Economic Commission for Europe is the self-certification by which the manufacturer certifies, without any preliminary administrative control, that each product put on the market conforms to the given UN Regulation; the competent administrative authorities may verify by random sampling on the market that the self-certified products comply with the requirements of the given UN Regulation.

2. The Administrative Committee shall be composed of all the Contracting Parties in accordance with the rules of procedure set out in the appendix.

A UN Regulation, after having been established in accordance with the procedure indicated in the appendix, shall be communicated by the Administrative Committee to the Secretary-General of the United Nations, hereinafter called ‘Secretary-General’. As soon as possible thereafter, the Secretary-General shall give notification of this UN Regulation to the Contracting Parties.

The UN Regulation will be considered as adopted unless, within a period of six months from its notification by the Secretary-General, more than one-fifth of the Contracting Parties at the time of notification have informed the Secretary-General of their disagreement with the UN Regulation.

The UN Regulation shall cover the following:

(a) wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts concerned;

(b) technical requirements, which shall be performance-oriented wherever appropriate and not design-restrictive, that give objective consideration to available technologies, costs and benefits as appropriate, and may include alternatives;

(c) test methods by which any performance requirements are to be demonstrated;

(d) conditions for granting type-approval and their reciprocal recognition including administrative provisions, any approval markings and conditions for ensuring conformity of production;

(e) the date(s) on which the UN Regulation enters into force, including the date when Contracting Parties applying it can issue approvals pursuant to that UN Regulation, and the date from which they shall accept approvals (if different);

(f) an information document to be provided by the manufacturer.

The UN Regulation may, if needed, include references to the laboratories accredited by the approval authorities where acceptance tests of the types of wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts submitted for approval shall be carried out.

In addition to the abovementioned UN Regulations, this Agreement provides for establishing a UN Regulation to introduce a system of whole vehicle type-approval. This UN Regulation shall set the scope, administrative procedures, and technical requirements that can include different levels of stringency in one version of the said UN Regulation.

Notwithstanding other provisions of Article 1 and Article 12, a Contracting Party applying the UN Regulation on IWVTA shall only be obliged to accept those type-approvals granted pursuant to the highest level of stringency of the latest version of the said UN Regulation.

This Agreement also includes Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions applicable to all UN Regulations annexed to this Agreement and to all Contracting Parties applying one or more UN Regulations.

3. When a UN Regulation has been adopted, the Secretary-General shall so notify as soon as possible all the Contracting Parties, specifying which Contracting Parties have objected, or have notified their agreement but have the intention not to begin applying the UN Regulation at the date of entry into force, and in respect of which the UN Regulation shall not enter into force.

4. The adopted UN Regulation shall enter into force on the date(s) specified therein as a UN Regulation annexed to this Agreement for all Contracting Parties which have not notified either their disagreement or their intention not to apply it on that date.

5. When depositing its instrument of accession, any new Contracting Party may declare that it will not apply certain UN Regulations then annexed to this Agreement or that it will not apply any of them. If, at that time, the procedure laid down in paragraphs 2, 3, and 4 of this Article is in progress for a draft or adopted UN Regulation, the Secretary-General shall communicate such draft or adopted UN Regulation to the new Contracting Party and it shall enter into force as a UN Regulation for the new Contracting Party unless this Contracting Party notifies its disagreement with the adopted UN Regulation within a period of six months after the deposit of its instrument of accession. The Secretary-General shall notify all the Contracting Parties of the date of such entry into force. The Secretary-General shall also communicate to them all declarations concerning the non-application of certain UN Regulations that any Contracting Party may make in accordance with the terms of this paragraph.

6. Any Contracting Party applying a UN Regulation may at any time notify the Secretary-General, subject to one year's notice, about its intention to cease applying that UN Regulation. Such notification shall be communicated by the Secretary-General to the other Contracting Parties.

Approvals previously granted pursuant to that UN Regulation by that Contracting Party shall remain valid unless they are withdrawn in accordance with the provisions of Article 4.

If a Contracting Party ceases to issue approvals to a UN Regulation it shall:

(a) maintain proper supervision on conformity of production of products for which it previously granted type-approval;

(b) take the necessary steps set out in Article 4 when advised of non-conformity by a Contracting Party that continues to apply the UN Regulation;

(c) continue to notify the other Contracting Parties of withdrawal of approvals as set out in Article 5;

(d) continue to grant extensions to existing approvals.

7. Any Contracting Party not applying a UN Regulation may at any time notify the Secretary-General that it intends henceforth to apply it and the UN Regulation will then enter into force for this Party on the 60th day after this notification. The Secretary-General shall notify all the Contracting Parties of every entry into force of a UN Regulation for a new Contracting Party affected in accordance with the terms of this paragraph.

8. The Contracting Parties for which a UN Regulation is in force shall hereinafter be referred to as ‘the Contracting Parties applying a UN Regulation’.

Article 2

1. Each Contracting Party applying UN Regulations largely through type-approval shall grant the type-approvals and approval markings described in any UN Regulation for the types of wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts covered by the UN Regulation, provided that it has the technical competence and is satisfied with the arrangements for ensuring conformity of the product with the approved type. Each Contracting Party which grants type-approval shall take the necessary measures as set out in Schedule 1 annexed to this Agreement to verify that adequate arrangements have been made to ensure that wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts are manufactured in conformity with the approved type.

2. Each Contracting Party issuing type-approvals pursuant to a UN Regulation shall specify an approval authority for the UN Regulation. The approval authority shall have the responsibility for all aspects of type-approval pursuant to the said UN Regulation. This approval authority may designate Technical Services to carry out on its behalf the testing and inspections necessary for the verifications required in paragraph 1 of this Article. Contracting Parties shall ensure that Technical Services are assessed, designated and notified in accordance with the requirements set out in Schedule 2 annexed to this Agreement.

3. The type-approvals, approval markings and identifiers for the types of wheeled vehicles, equipment and parts shall be specified in the UN Regulation and granted in accordance with the procedures set out in Schedules 3 to 5 annexed to this Agreement.

4. Each Contracting Party applying a UN Regulation shall refuse to grant the type-approvals and approval markings covered by the UN Regulation if the abovementioned conditions are not complied with.

Article 3

1. Wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts for which type-approvals have been issued by a Contracting Party in accordance with Article 2 of this Agreement shall be held to be in conformity with the relevant part of the national legislation of all the Contracting Parties applying the said UN Regulation.

2. Contracting Parties applying UN Regulations shall, by mutual recognition, accept for the placement on their markets, and subject to the provisions of Articles 1, 8 and 12 as well as any special provisions within these UN Regulations, type-approvals granted pursuant to these UN Regulations, without requiring any further testing, documentation, certification or marking concerning these type-approvals.

Article 4

1. Should a Contracting Party applying a UN Regulation find that certain wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts bearing approval markings issued under the said UN Regulation by one of the Contracting Parties do not conform to the approved types or the requirements of the said UN Regulation, it shall advise the approval authority of the Contracting Party which issued the approval.

The Contracting Party that issued the approval shall take the necessary steps to ensure that the non-conformity is rectified.

2. When the non-conformity is due to non-compliance with the technical requirements specified in a UN Regulation, as referred to in Article 1.2(b), the Contracting Party that issued the approval shall immediately inform all other Contracting Parties about the situation and shall provide regular advice to Contracting Parties of the steps it is taking, which may include, if necessary, the withdrawal of the approval.

After having considered the potential impact on vehicle safety, protection of the environment, energy saving or the performance of anti-theft technology, Contracting Parties may prohibit the sale and use of such wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts in their territory until this non-conformity is rectified. In such a case, these Contracting Parties shall inform the secretariat of the Administrative Committee of the measures taken. For resolution of disputes between the Contracting Parties, the procedure provided in Article 10.4 shall apply.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this Article, if a non-conforming product, as referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article, has not been brought into conformity within a period of three months, the Contracting Party responsible for the approval shall temporarily or permanently withdraw the approval. By exception, this period may be extended by a period not exceeding three months unless one or more Contracting Parties applying the concerned UN Regulation object. When the period is being extended, the Contracting Party that issued the approval shall, within the initial three-month period, notify all Contracting Parties applying the concerned UN Regulation of its intention to extend the period in which the non-conformity shall be rectified and provide a justification for such extension.

4. When the non-conformity is due to non-compliance with the administrative provisions, approval markings, conditions for conformity of production or the information document specified in a UN Regulation, as referred to in Article 1.2(d) and 1.2(f), the Contracting Party that issued the approval shall temporarily or permanently withdraw the approval if the non-conformity has not been rectified within a period of six months.

5. Paragraphs 1 to 4 of this Article also apply in the situation where the Contracting Party responsible for issuing of the approval itself finds that certain wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts bearing approval markings do not conform to the approved types or the requirements of a UN Regulation.

Article 5

1. The approval authorities of each Contracting Party applying UN Regulations shall send upon request from the other Contracting Parties, a list of the wheeled vehicles, equipment or parts of which it has refused to grant or has withdrawn approvals.

2. In addition, on receiving a request from another Contracting Party applying a UN Regulation, it shall send forthwith, in accordance with the provisions of Schedule 5 annexed to this Agreement, to that Contracting Party a copy of all relevant information on which it based its decision to grant, refuse to grant, or to withdraw an approval of a wheeled vehicle, equipment or part pursuant to that UN Regulation.

3. The paper copy may be replaced by an electronic file in accordance with Schedule 5 annexed to this Agreement.

Article 6

1. Member States of the Economic Commission for Europe, countries admitted to the Commission in a consultative capacity in accordance with paragraph 8 of the Commission's Terms of Reference, and regional economic integration organisations set up by Member States of the Economic Commission for Europe to which their Member States have transferred powers in the fields covered by this Agreement, including the power to make binding decisions on their Member States, may become Contracting Parties to this Agreement.

For the determination of the number of votes referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2 and in Article 12, paragraph 2, regional economic integration organisations vote with the number of votes of their Member States being members of the Economic Commission for Europe.

2. Member States of the United Nations which may participate in certain activities of the Economic Commission for Europe in accordance with paragraph 11 of the Commission's Terms of Reference and regional economic integration organisations of such countries to which their Member States have transferred powers in the fields covered by this Agreement including power to make binding decisions on their Member States may become Contracting Parties to this Agreement.

For the determination of the number of votes referred to in Article 1, paragraph 2 and in Article 12, paragraph 2, regional economic integration organisations vote with the number of votes of their Member States being members of the United Nations.

3. Accession to this Agreement by new Contracting Parties which are not Parties to the 1958 Agreement shall be effected by the deposit of an instrument with the Secretary-General, after the entry into force of this Agreement.

Article 7

1. This Agreement shall be deemed to enter into force nine months after the date of its transmission by the Secretary-General to all the Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement.

2. This Agreement shall be deemed not to enter into force if any objection from the Contracting Parties to the 1958 Agreement is expressed within a period of six months following the date of its transmission to them by the Secretary-General.

3. For any new Contracting Party acceding to this Agreement, this Agreement shall enter into force on the sixtieth day after the deposit of the instrument of accession.

Article 8

1. Any Contracting Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying the Secretary-General.

2. Denunciation shall take effect 12 months after the date of receipt by the Secretary-General of such notification.

3. Any type-approvals granted by the Contracting Party shall remain valid for a period of 12 months after the denunciation has taken effect in accordance with Article 8.2.

Article 9

1. Any Contracting Party as defined in Article 6 of this Agreement may, at the time of accession or at any time thereafter, declare by notification addressed to the Secretary-General that this Agreement shall extend to all or any of the territories for whose international relations it is responsible. The Agreement shall extend to the territory or territories named in the notification as from the 60th day after its receipt by the Secretary-General.

2. Any Contracting Party as defined in Article 6 of this Agreement which has made a declaration in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article extending this Agreement to any territory for whose international relations it is responsible may denounce the Agreement separately in respect of that territory, in accordance with the provisions of Article 8.

Article 10

1. Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of this Agreement shall, so far as possible, be settled by negotiation between them.

2. Any dispute which is not settled by negotiation shall be submitted to arbitration if any one of the Contracting Parties in dispute so requests and shall be referred accordingly to one or more arbitrators selected by agreement between the Parties in dispute. If within three months from the date of the request for arbitration the Parties in dispute are unable to agree on the selection of an arbitrator or arbitrators, any of those Parties may request the Secretary-General to nominate a single arbitrator to whom the dispute shall be referred for decision.

3. The decision of the arbitrator or arbitrators appointed in accordance with paragraph 2 of this Article shall be binding on the Contracting Parties in dispute.

4. Any dispute between two or more Contracting Parties concerning the interpretation or application of UN Regulations annexed to this Agreement shall be settled by negotiation in accordance with the procedure set out in Schedule 6 annexed to this Agreement.

Article 11

1. Any Contracting Party may, at the time of acceding to this Agreement, declare that it does not consider itself bound by paragraphs 1 to 3 of Article 10 of the Agreement. Other Contracting Parties shall not be bound by paragraphs 1 to 3 of Article 10 in respect of any Contracting Party which has entered such a reservation.

2. Any Contracting Party having entered a reservation as provided for in paragraph 1 of this Article may at any time withdraw such reservation by notifying the Secretary-General.

3. No other reservation to this Agreement, its Appendix, Schedules and the UN Regulations annexed thereto shall be permitted; but any Contracting Party may, in accordance with the terms of Article 1, paragraph 5, declare that it does not intend to apply certain of the UN Regulations or that it does not intend to apply any of them.

Article 12

The UN Regulations annexed to this Agreement may be amended in accordance with the following procedure:

1. Amendments to UN Regulations shall be established by the Administrative Committee as described in Article 1, paragraph 2 and in accordance with the procedure indicated in the appendix. An amendment to the UN Regulation, after having been established, shall be communicated by the Administrative Committee to the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe. As soon as possible thereafter, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe shall give notification of this amendment to the Contracting Parties applying the UN Regulation and the Secretary-General.

2. An amendment to a UN Regulation will be considered to be adopted unless, within a period of six months from its notification by the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, more than one fifth of the Contracting Parties applying the UN Regulation at the time of notification have informed the Secretary-General of their disagreement with the amendment. When an amendment to a UN Regulation is adopted, the Secretary-General shall as soon as possible declare the amendment as adopted and binding upon those Contracting Parties applying the UN Regulation.

3. Amendments to a UN Regulation may include transitional provisions relating to the entry into force of the amended UN Regulation, the date up to which Contracting Parties shall accept approvals pursuant to the preceding version of the UN Regulation and the date as from which Contracting Parties shall not be obliged to accept type-approvals issued pursuant to the preceding version of the amended UN Regulation.

4. Notwithstanding that transitional provisions in any version of UN Regulations may have stipulated otherwise, Contracting Parties to this Agreement which are applying UN Regulations may, subject to compliance with the provisions of Article 2, nevertheless issue type-approvals pursuant to earlier versions of UN Regulations. However, subject to paragraph 3 of this Article, Contracting Parties applying a UN Regulation shall not be obliged to accept type-approvals issued pursuant to these earlier versions.

5. All Contracting Parties applying a UN Regulation, except for Contracting Parties which notified the Secretary-General of their intention to cease applying the UN Regulation, shall accept approvals granted pursuant to the latest version of that UN Regulation. A Contracting Party which notified the Secretary-General of its intention to cease applying a UN Regulation shall, during the one-year period mentioned in paragraph 6 of Article 1, accept approvals granted pursuant to the version(s) of the UN Regulation applicable for that Contracting Party at the instance of its notification to Secretary-General.

6. A Contracting Party applying a UN Regulation may grant an exemption approval pursuant to a UN Regulation for a single type of wheeled vehicle, equipment or part which is based on a new technology, when this new technology is not covered by the existing UN Regulation, and is incompatible with one or more requirements of this UN Regulation. In such a case, the procedures set out in Schedule 7 annexed to this Agreement shall apply.

7. Should a new Contracting Party accede to this Agreement between the time of the notification of the amendment to a UN Regulation by the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe and its entry into force, the UN Regulation in question shall enter into force for that Contracting Party unless, within a period of six months from its notification of accession by the Secretary-General, that Party has informed the Secretary-General of its disagreement with the amendment.

Article 13

The text of the Agreement itself and of its appendix may be amended in accordance with the following procedure:

1. Any Contracting Party may propose one or more amendments to this Agreement and its appendix. The text of any proposed amendment to the Agreement and its appendix shall be transmitted to the Secretary-General, who shall transmit it to all Contracting Parties and inform all other countries referred to in paragraph 1 of Article 6 thereof.

2. Any proposed amendment circulated in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article shall be deemed to be accepted if no Contracting Party expresses an objection within a period of nine months following the date of circulation of the proposed amendment by the Secretary-General.

3. The Secretary-General shall, as soon as possible, notify all Contracting Parties whether an objection to the proposed amendment has been expressed. If an objection to the proposed amendment has been expressed, the amendment shall be deemed not to have been accepted, and shall be of no effect whatsoever. If no such objection has been expressed, the amendment shall enter into force for all Contracting Parties three months after the expiry of the period of nine months referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.

Article 13 bis

1. The Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions annexed to this Agreement may be amended in accordance with the following procedure:

1.1. Amendments to the Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions shall be established by the Administrative Committee as referred to in Article 1.1 and in accordance with the procedure indicated in Article 7 of the appendix to this Agreement.

1.2. An amendment to the Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions shall be communicated by the Administrative Committee to the Secretary-General. As soon as possible thereafter, the Secretary-General shall give notification of this amendment to the Contracting Parties applying one or more UN Regulations.

2. An amendment to the Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions will be considered to be adopted if, within a period of six months from its notification by the Secretary-General, no Contracting Party applying one or more UN Regulations has informed the Secretary-General of its disagreement with the amendment.

3. The Secretary-General shall, as soon as possible, notify all Contracting Parties to the Agreement applying one or more UN Regulations whether an objection to the proposed amendment has been expressed. If an objection to the proposed amendment has been expressed, the amendment shall be deemed not to have been accepted, and shall be of no effect whatsoever. If no such objection has been expressed, the amendment shall enter into force for all Contracting Parties applying one or more UN Regulations three months after the expiry of the period of six months referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article.

4. A new schedule shall be considered as an amendment to the Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions and, therefore, established according to the same procedure as specified in this Article.

Article 14

1. In accordance with the provisions of this Agreement, the Secretary-General shall notify the Contracting Parties of:

(a) accessions in accordance with Article 6;

(b) the dates of entry into force of this Agreement in accordance with Article 7;

(c) denunciations in accordance with Article 8;

(d) notifications received in accordance with Article 9;

(e) declarations and notifications received in accordance with paragraphs 1 and 2 of Article 11;

(f) the entry into force of any new UN Regulation and any amendment to an existing UN Regulation in accordance with paragraphs 2, 3, 5 and 7 of Article 1, and paragraph 2 of Article 12;

(g) the entry into force of any amendment to the Agreement, its appendix or to the Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions in accordance with paragraph 3 of Article 13 or with paragraph 3 of Article 13bis, respectively;

(h) the cessation of application of UN Regulations by Contracting Parties in accordance with paragraph 6 of Article 1.

2. In accordance with the provisions of this Agreement and the annexed Schedules of Administrative and Procedural Provisions, the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe shall notify:

(a) the Secretary-General and the Contracting Parties of the establishment of an amendment to a UN Regulation in accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 12;

(b) the Contracting Parties of the decision by Administrative Committee on an exemption approval request and, subsequently, of its adoption in accordance with paragraph 5 of Schedule 7.

Article 15

1. If at the date the above provisions come into effect the procedures envisaged in Article 1, paragraphs 3 and 4 of the previous version of the Agreement are under way for adopting a new UN Regulation, the said new UN Regulation shall enter into force under the provisions of paragraph 4 of the said Article.

2. If at the date the above provisions come into effect, the procedures envisaged in Article 12, paragraph 1 of the previous version of the Agreement are under way for the adoption of an amendment to a UN Regulation, the said amendment shall enter into force under the provisions of the said Article.

3. If all Contracting Parties to the Agreement agree, any UN Regulation adopted under the terms of the previous version of the Agreement may be treated as though it were a UN Regulation adopted under the terms of the above provisions.

Article 16

This Agreement was done at Geneva in a single copy in the English, French and Russian languages, each text being equally authentic.

(1) Former titles of the Agreement:

Agreement concerning the Adoption of Uniform Conditions of Approval and Reciprocal Recognition of Approval for Motor Vehicle Equipment and Parts, done at Geneva on 20 March 1958 (original version);

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, done at Geneva on 5 October 1995 (Revision 2).