CHAPTER XI

TRANSPORT AND COMMUNICATIONS

B

Road Traffic32Agreement concerning the Establishing of Global Technical Regulations for Wheeled Vehicles, Equipment and Parts which can be fitted and/or be used on Wheeled VehiclesGeneva, 25 June 1998Entry into force25 August 2000, in accordance with article 11which reads as follows: "11.1 This Agreement and its Annexes, which constitute integral parts of the Agreement, shall enter into force on the thirtieth (30) day following the date on which a minimum of five (5) countries and/or regional economic integration organizations have become Contracting Parties pursuant to Article 9. This minimum of five (5) must include the European Community, Japan, and the United States. 11.2. If, however, paragraph 11.1 of this Article is not satisfied fifteen (15) months after the date specified in paragraph 10.1[i.e. 25 June 1998], then this Agreement and its Annexes, which constitute integral parts of the Agreement, shall enter into force on the thirtieth (30) day following the date on which a minimum of eight (8) countries and/or regional economic integration organizations have become Contracting Parties pursuant to Article 9. Such date of entry into force shall not be earlier than sixteen (16) months after the date specified in paragraph 10.1. At least one (1) of these eight (8) must be either the European Community, Japan or the United States of America. 11.3 for any country or regional economic integration organization that becomes a Contacting Party to the Agreement after its entry into force, this Agreement shall enter into force sixty (6) days after the date that such country or regional economic integration organization deposits its instrument of ratification, acceptance, approval or accesion.".Registration25 August 2000, No. 36868StatusSignatories5Parties33TextUnited Nations, <i>Treaty Series </i>, vol. 2119, p. 129.The Agreement, of which the English, French and Russian texts are equally authentic, was adopted by the Inland Transport Committee of the Economic Commisssion for Europe of the United Nations at its one-hundred-and fifteenth Session, held from 23 to 26 June 1998. In accordance with its article 10, the Agreement will be open for signature from 25 June 1998 until its entry into force.

ParticipantSignatureDefinitive signature(s), Ratification, Acceptance(A), Approval(AA), Accession(a)Australia<superscript>1</superscript> 8 Apr 2008 aAzerbaijan15 Apr 2002 aCanada22 Jun 1999 sChina<superscript>2</superscript>10 Oct 2000 ACyprus12 Apr 2005 aEuropean Union18 Oct 1999 15 Feb 2000 AAFinland 8 Jun 2001 aFrance22 Sep 1999 4 Jan 2000 AAGermany11 May 2000 sHungary22 Jun 2001 aIndia21 Feb 2006 aItaly 1 Dec 2000 aJapan 3 Aug 1999 AKazakhstan28 Jun 2011 aLithuania26 May 2006 aLuxembourg16 Sep 2005 aMalaysia 3 Feb 2006 aNetherlands<superscript>3</superscript> 4 Jan 2002 aNew Zealand<superscript>4</superscript>27 Nov 2001 aNorway30 Sep 2004 aRepublic of Korea 2 Nov 2000 aRepublic of Moldova16 Jan 2007 aRomania25 Apr 2002 aRussian Federation26 Jul 2000 sSlovakia 7 Nov 2001 aSouth Africa14 Jun 2000 18 Apr 2001 Spain24 Aug 2000 23 Apr 2002 Sweden 3 Dec 2002 aTajikistan28 Dec 2011 aTunisia 2 Nov 2007 aTurkey 3 Jul 2001 aUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland10 Jan 2000 sUnited States of America25 Jun 1998 26 Jul 1999 AEuropean UnionDeclaration :“The European Community declares in matters within its competence that its Members States have transferred powers to it in fields covered by this Agreement, including the power to make binding decisions on them.”1“THE GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA hereby declares, pursuant to Article 15, subparagraph 2 of the Agreement, that the Agreement shall not extend to the following Australian territories: Australian Antarctic Territory, Coral Sea Islands Territory, Norfolk Island, Territory of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island, Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Territory of Christmas Island.”2With a declaration to the effect that the Agreement shall apply to the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macao of the People’s Republic of China.3As from 30 April 2003: in respect of the Netherlands Antilles.4On 27 November 2001, the Secreary-General received the following:"[T]he Government of New Zealand ... declares that, consistent with the constitutional status of Tokelau and taking into account the commitment of the Government of New Zealand to the development of self-government for Tokelau through an act of self-determination under the Charter of the United Nations, this accession shall not extend to Tokelau unless and until a Declaration to this effect is lodged by the Government of New Zealand with the Depositary on the basis of appropriate consultation with that territory."