The World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations is a working party (WP.29)[1] of the Inland Transport Committee (ITC) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).

Since 2000, the global scope of this forum was recognized given the active participation of Countries in all continents, excluding the United States and Canada, who developed incompatible standards.

There are six permanent Working Parties which are subsidiary bodies that consider specialized tasks, consisting of people with a specific expertise:[3] The core of the Forum's work is based around the "1958 Agreement", formally titled "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" (E/ECE/TRANS/505/Rev.2, amended on 16 October 1995).

This forms a legal framework wherein participating countries (contracting parties) agree on a common set of technical prescriptions and protocols for type approval of vehicles and components.

R123 — Adaptive front-lighting, R121 — Location and identification of hand controls, tell-tales and indicators, R122 — Heating, R25 — Head restraints, R55 — combinations of vehicles, R67, R97, R110.

[14] The most notable non-signatory to the 1958 Agreement is the United States, which has its own Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards and does not recognise UN type approvals.

[citation needed] Vehicles built in compliance with global safety and emissions regulations were still available to Americans in the period 1976-88, as individual imports.

[19] No prior verification is required by a governmental agency or authorised testing entity before the vehicle or equipment can be imported, sold, or used.

If reason develops to believe the certification was false or improper — i.e., that the vehicle or equipment does not in fact comply — then authorities may conduct tests and, if a noncompliance is found, order a recall and/or other corrective and/or punitive measures.

[20] Non-compliances found that are arguably without effect to highway safety may be petitioned to skip recall (remedy and notification) requirements for vehicles already produced.

The text includes a record of the technical rationale, the research sources used, cost and benefit considerations, and references to data consulted.

As part of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations, the issues of divergent standards in automobile regulatory structure are being investigated.

TTIP negotiators are seeking to identify ways to narrow the regulatory differences, potentially reducing costs and spurring additional trade in vehicles.

[19] Organisation Internationale des Constructeurs d'Automobiles (OICA) hosts on its web site the working documents from various United Nations expert groups including World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations.