96-14063. Establishment of Working Groups to Assist NAFTA Automotive Standards Council

[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 109 (Wednesday, June 5, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 28636-28637]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14063]



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DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
[Docket No. 94-86; Notice 2]


Establishment of Working Groups to Assist NAFTA Automotive 
Standards Council

AGENCY: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), DOT.

ACTION: Notice of intent to establish working groups to assist NAFTA 
Automotive Standards Council.

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SUMMARY: The Automotive Standards Council, a subcommittee under the 
Committee on Standards Related Measures established by the North 
American Free Trade Agreement, has decided to establish working groups 
to assist it in facilitating the attainment of compatibility among, and 
review the implementation of, national standards-related measures of 
Canada, Mexico, and the United States that apply to automotive goods. 
This notice identifies the United States government co-chairs for each 
of the four working groups the United States will establish. This 
notice also solicits interested persons from outside the government to 
serve on the four working groups.

DATES: Requests for membership must be received not later than July 5, 
1996.

ADDRESSES: Requests for membership should be submitted to the 
government co-chair for the appropriate working group indicated below.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For the Working Group on Emissions/
Engines/Fuels: Mr. Thomas M. Baines, Senior Technical Advisor, U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency, 2565 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor, MI 
48105. Mr. Baines can be reached by fax at [phone].
    For the Working Group on Light Vehicle Safety Standards: Mr. 
Stephen R. Kratzke, Chief, Planning and Review Division, Office of 
Vehicle Safety Standards, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, Washington, DC 20590. Mr. 
Kratzke can be reached by telephone at [phone] or by fax at 
[phone].
    For the Working Group on Heavy Vehicle Safety Standards and the 
Working Group on Parts and Equipment: Mr. Clive Van Orden, Chief, 
Equipment and Imports Division, Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance, 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 400 Seventh Street, SW, 
Washington, DC 20590. Mr. Van Orden can be reached by telephone at 
[phone] or by fax at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The North American Free Trade Agreement 
(NAFTA) is a trilateral trade agreement among the Governments of 
Canada, Mexico, and the United States. Article 913 of NAFTA establishes 
a Committee on Standards-Related Measures, comprising representatives 
of each of the three parties. Paragraph 5 of Article 913 requires the 
Committee on Standards-Related Measures to establish four 
subcommittees, one of which is the Automotive Standards Council. The 
purpose of the Automotive Standards Council is ``to the extent 
practicable, to facilitate the attainment of compatibility among, and 
review the implementation of, national standards-related measures of 
the [three Nations] that apply to automotive goods, and to address 
other related matters.'' See NAFTA Annex 913.5.a-3. The NAFTA includes 
non-road engines as well. Thus, the term ``automotive,'' as used in 
this notice, includes non-road engines.
    Annex 913.5.a.-3.3 gives the Automotive Standards Council authority 
to establish consultation procedures and appropriate operational 
mechanisms. At the initial meeting of the Automotive Standards Council 
in Ottawa, the representatives of the three governments agreed to 
solicit input from interested parties in their respective countries to 
identify incompatibilities that have created, or could create, needless 
barriers to trade. Pursuant to this agreement, NHTSA published a notice 
asking the public for comments about regulatory incompatibilities and 
barriers to trade on December 23, 1994 (59 FR 66402).
    At the second meeting in Mexico City, each of the three Nations 
reported on the inputs from their respective

[[Page 28637]]

countries. The Automotive Standards Council concluded that it should 
seek help from outside the governments to complete the task of 
eliminating needless barriers to trade caused by incompatibilities in 
automotive-related standards and regulations among the three countries. 
These outside parties may be in the best position to judge the extent 
to which an incompatibility constitutes a barrier to trade. In 
addition, many parties outside the governments had asked that the 
Council try to involve the public to a greater extent in the Council's 
activities.
    At the third meeting in Washington, D.C. on April 30-May 1, 1996, 
the Council agreed to establish working groups to assist it. Based on 
the public comments identifying what are believed to be 
incompatibilities and experience in regulating motor vehicles, the 
Council will form working groups to address four different areas. These 
would be:

 Emissions/Engines/Fuels
 Light Vehicle Safety Standards
 Heavy Vehicle Safety Standards, and
 Parts and Equipment (both original equipment and replacement)

    The Council also agreed on Terms of Reference to provide an outline 
for how the working groups will function. The complete text of the 
Terms of Reference follows this notice as an appendix.
    The United States has decided to establish four working groups, one 
in each of these areas. The United States has also identified the 
following government co-chairs for each of the four working groups:

 Mr. Thomas M. Baines (Emissions/Engines/Fuels)
 Mr. Stephen R. Kratzke (Light Vehicle Safety Standards)
  Mr. Clive Van Orden (Heavy Vehicles Safety Standards and 
Parts and Equipment).

    The United States is now soliciting interested parties from outside 
the government to participate in the four working groups. Interested 
parties should write or fax the government co- chair for the working 
group(s) they would like to participate in by July 5, 1996. The 
government co-chair will then contact all respondents to announce the 
time and place for an organizational meeting for each working group. At 
the initial meeting, each working group will decide upon the internal 
procedures it wants to follow and select a co-chair from outside the 
government.

    Issued on May 30, 1996.
Francis J. Turpin,
Director, Office of International Harmonization.

Appendix--Terms of Reference for Working Groups Under The NAFTA 
Automotive Standards Council

Objectives

    The Automotive Standards Council (``the Council'') has agreed 
under Annex 913.5.a-3.3 of the North American Free Trade Agreement 
to establish working groups of interested persons to pursue the 
following objectives:
     Facilitate the attainment of compatibility among, and 
review the implementation of, national standards-related measures of 
the Parties that apply to automotive goods; and
     Suggest recommendations the Council could make that 
would facilitate the attainment of such compatibility.

Structure of Working Groups

a. Subject Areas To Be Addressed by Working Groups

    1. The Council will initially address four areas by means of 
working groups in the Parties. These four areas are:

i. Emissions/Engines/Fuels
ii. Light Vehicle Safety Standards
iii. Heavy Vehicle Safety Standards and
iv. Parts and Equipment (both Original Equipment and Replacement)

    2. The Council may specify additional areas to be addressed by 
working groups, as needed.

b. General Structure of Working Groups

    1. Each Party will establish one or more working groups to 
address these four areas.
    2. Each working group will be co-chaired by a representative of 
the government and a person not employed by the government. The 
government co-chair will serve as a liaison between the Council and 
the working group.
    3. Members of the working groups not employed by the government 
will not be compensated by the government for their work on the 
working groups.
    4. Each Party may use whatever procedures it deems appropriate 
to decide the membership of its working groups.

c. General Responsibilities of Working Groups

    1. The working groups will have the primary responsibility for 
identifying incompatibilities among the national standards-related 
measures of the Parties that apply to automotive goods, providing an 
assessment of the extent to which such incompatibilities represent a 
barrier to trade, and for offering suggestions to the Council about 
ways to remove those incompatibilities.
    2. Each working group will be responsible for informing other 
working groups, including the counterpart working groups in the 
other Parties and other working groups established by the same 
Party, of its planned and current activities. The Council will be 
responsible for ensuring that information it receives from any 
working group is passed on to all other working groups through the 
government co-chairs.
    3. Each working group shall report annually on its activities to 
the Council. Such reports shall briefly indicate the activities in 
which the working group has been engaged for the preceding year and 
the activities the working group plans for the upcoming year, any 
priorities on which the working group has agreed, and provide a 
status report on the current projects of the working group.
    4. Each working group may develop its own internal rules and 
priorities consistent with the objectives set forth in these Terms 
of Reference.
    5. Working groups may hold trilateral meetings with the working 
groups in the other Parties if deemed necessary.

d. Working Group Presentations to the Council

    1. The Council will give the working groups as much notice as 
possible of upcoming Council meetings to allow the working groups to 
request some time on the agenda to make presentations to the full 
Council.
    2. Before any working group asks to make a presentation to the 
full Council, it must coordinate the presentation with the 
appropriate working groups in the other Parties. For the purposes of 
this document, ``coordinate'' means the working group must inform 
the appropriate working groups in other Parties of the planned 
presentation and discuss the presentation with those other working 
groups. For instance, if the Canadian working group addressing Light 
Vehicle Safety Standards wants to make a presentation to the 
Council, it must first inform the working groups addressing Light 
Vehicle Safety Standards in Mexico and the United States of the 
presentation and discuss it with those working groups. Working 
groups will, to the maximum extent possible, make a single 
presentation that represents the views of the appropriate working 
groups in all Parties, including a statement of any differing views. 
This requirement does not mean that the working groups in the other 
Parties must agree to the presentation before the Council will hear 
it. Instead, it means that the working groups in the other Parties 
must be fully informed of the details of the presentation and the 
intention to present it to the full Council.
    3. The Council encourages working groups to make joint 
presentations when possible. Nongovernment representatives of the 
presenting working group or groups would be permitted to present the 
suggestions to a meeting of the full Council.
    4. As soon as possible after the Council completes its internal 
consideration of the presentation, the Council will inform the 
presenters of the Council's decision on the working group 
recommendations to the Council.

Amendments

    These terms of reference may be amended at any time with the 
unanimous consent of all Parties.

[FR Doc. 96-14063 Filed 5-31-96; 12:25 pm]
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