Revision of the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement

Annexes of the EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement were revised including those covering the recognition of UNECE regulations for vehicles and their parts

The EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement entered into force on 1 February 2019.  Its Appendix 2-C covers motor vehicles and their parts and lists those for which both parties recognize UNECE regulations.  Recently, some new UNECE regulations were added to the list.

Among the provisions of the Annex, according to Article 5, “each Party shall accept on its market products which are covered by a type-approval certificate, under the 1958 Agreement, for the UN Regulations specified in Appendix 2-C-1 as compliant with its domestic technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures, in the area regulated by the relevant UN Regulation, without requiring any further testing, documentation, certification or marking”.

According to the Decision no 2/2021 of the Joint Committee established under the Agreement between the European Union and Japan for an Economic Partnership of 25 January 2021, the following UNECE regulations were added to the Appendix 2-C-1:

• R53 – Uniform provisions concerning the approval of category L3 vehicles with regard to the installation of lighting and light-signalling devices
• R85 – Uniform provisions concerning the approval of internal combustion engines or electric drive trains intended for the propulsion of motor vehicles of categories M and N with regard to the measurement of net power and the maximum 30 minutes power of electric drive trains
• R145 – Uniform provisions concerning the approval of vehicles with regard to ISOFIX anchorage systems, ISOFIX top tether anchorages and i-Size seating positions
• R146– Uniform provisions concerning the approval of motor vehicles and their components with regard to the safety-related performance of hydrogen-fuelled vehicles of categories L1, L2, L3, L4 and L5’