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PA EPA AND NHTSA AGREE TO GLOBAL HARMONIZATION OF POLLUTION & SAFETY RULES
Release Date: 06/26/98
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JUNE 26, 1998
EPA AND NHTSA AGREE TO GLOBAL HARMONIZATION OF
POLLUTION & SAFETY RULES
EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration announced that the United States will be the first signatory to an international agreement that provides a global means for governments to develop and harmonize regulations regarding the environmental and safety performance and design of motor vehicles. In March 1998, the United States, Japan and the European Communities reached an agreement on a text that was finalized and officially opened for signature on June 25 by all countries that are members of the United Nations. The Agreement on Global Technical Regulations, under the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Europe and administered by its Working Party on the Construction of Vehicles (WP.29), establishes an international process for the United States and other countries to consider actions that promote the development and harmonization from technical regulations to ensure high levels of environmental protection, safety and energy efficiency of motor vehicles. A critical element of the agreement is that it is not a procedure for establishing the lowest common denominator for environmental protection or vehicle safety. Environmental protection in the United States will not be lowered in order to achieve regulatory harmonization. The agreement ensures that activities will be carried out in a open manner, providing a process for input from any interested groups. The agreement, to be known as the Agreement on Global Technical Regulations, establishes a process to continuously decrease environmental pollution, increase energy efficiency and improve safety through globally uniform governmental technical regulations, and provides for objective consideration of best available technology, related public benefits and cost effectiveness.
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