ASIA PACIFIC ECONOMIC COOPERATION
Transportation Working Group
Road Transport Harmonisation Project
Request for proposal

Summary

This Request for Proposal (RFP) seeks to continue the Road Transport Harmonisation Project (RTHP) into its fifth and final phase. The project will be conducted under the guidance and oversight of the APEC Transportation Working Group and the Project Steering Committee.

The purpose of Stage 1 of this final Phase of the project, to be completed in December 1999, is to assist APEC member economies to implement efficient certification and internationally harmonised regulatory systems that meet their needs for vehicle safety and emission control.

Objective

The objectives of this consultancy, to be completed in December 1999, are to:

• Provide guidelines for APEC economies to become members of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) Inland Transport Committee Working Party 29 (WP 29) with respect to:

• Implementation of Safety/Environmental standards
• Implementation of a certification system
• Systems to check vehicle compliance with mandatory standards
  (Random testing/Audit/Vehicle inspection system/etc)

• Where appropriate, use of the ‘model’ MRA on Automotive Product developed by the Transportation Working Group and endorsed by APEC Transport Ministers in 1997 should also be considered.

• Working with two volunteer APEC member economies, provide advice and develop action plans seeking to achieve harmonised vehicle regulatory arrangements to enable free trade for automotive product in the region.

• Update data developed in Phases III and IV of RTHP

• Phase III analysed the regulations applied by APEC member
  economies for 71 vehicle design features

• Phase IV analysed the certification, conformity assessment and vehicle
  recall arrangements applied by APEC member economies.

The project Steering Committee will select two volunteer APEC member economies for the 1999 Pilot Study. The selected member economies will provide details of current regulatory arrangements and the consultant will identify the differences between existing arrangements and that considered necessary to achieve the desired objective.

Consultants are to propose possible solutions to identified problems and propose necessary action programs.

Introduction

[Note The membership is currently 18 economies. Peru the Russian Federation and Vietnam will be joining in November at that time this note will be deleted]

Road transport efficiency is important to all 21 APEC member economies (Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Canada, Chile, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Philippines, Russian Federation, Singapore, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Vietnam and United States of America).

Currently, APEC member economies adopt different vehicle standards and conformity assessment requirements which should be harmonised. The APEC Transportation Working Group has encouraged member economies to participate in UN/ECE WP 29 as a forum for the development of internationally harmonised vehicle standards. The Road Transportation Harmonisation Project is attempting to promote internationally harmonised vehicle regulatory arrangements within APEC through common technical regulations, conformity assessment and certification requirements. The project will provide guidance to member economies to develop more efficient vehicle regulatory systems.

The project is being undertaken with the support of member economies.

Project Context

The Road Transport Harmonisation Project was endorsed by the APEC Transportation Working Group (TPT-WG) at the meeting in Auckland, New Zealand 1994. The project has involved the collection and analysis of vehicle regulations, certification systems and conformity assessment arrangements applied by each of the APEC economies to identify commonalities and divergences. Resolution of many of the standards harmonisation issues that have caused difficulty elsewhere is an expected outcome of the project.

Phase I of the project sought input from APEC economies to identify vehicle design features subject to regulation across all vehicle categories. Some 270 vehicle design features were identified in the responses from the 14 APEC economies that responded to the survey.

Phase II of the project conducted a pilot study on a total of 9 design features which were analysed by 9 economies respectively.

Phase III of the project analysed, as a first step, 51 significant vehicle design features in 1996. An additional 20 design features were analysed in 1997. A paper was also prepared in 1997 which examined the concept of "Functional Equivalence".

Phase IV of the project analysed the certification, conformity assessment and recall arrangements applied by APEC member economies in 1998.

Project Outline

The project is working to the following plan and is about to enter Phase V.

Phase I Circulation of a questionnaire to identify road vehicle design features subject to regulation in the APEC region.

Report presented to Bali TPT-WG meeting in September 1994 that identified approximately 270 design features subject to regulation.

Phase II Conduct a pilot study on a selected number of passenger car design feature regulations. A total of 9 design features were analysed, each participating economy conducting one analysis.

The pilot project provided the basis for developing the methodology for use with the remaining regulated design features.

Partial report presented to the Sydney TPT-WG meeting in September 1995.

Six analyses were completed however all nine analyses were included in Phase III to ensure consistency.

Phase III Commission consultant to conduct an analysis of significant vehicle design features subject to regulation in the APEC region

(TPT 01/96).

Progress reports provided to Transportation Working Group meetings in April and November 1996. Final report completed February 1997. Results to be made available to member economies via internet (APEC Secretariat WWW page).

Commission consultant to conduct analysis of further identified vehicle design features deemed necessary for APEC trade and develop some guidelines for understanding the concept of functional equivalence (TPT 01/97).

Phase IV Examine conformity assessment and certification requirements used by the APEC economies.

Progress reports provided to TPT-WG in April and October 1998.

Final report scheduled for December 1998

Phase V Identify strategies to provide internationally harmonised requirements over a five year period.

Phase V Terms of Reference

The consultant is required to undertake the following tasks:

1. Provide guidelines for APEC member economies to become members of WP 29 through joining the "1958 Agreement" and/or the "Global Agreement" with respect to:

• Implementation of safety/Environmental standards

• Implementation of a certification system

• System to check the vehicle compliance with the mandatory standards (Random testing/Audit/Vehicle Inspection/etc)

2. Obtain the relevant information from the two volunteer member economies to allow development of proposed action plans to achieve internationally harmonised regulatory systems for the automotive sector. (Project Steering Committee will advise the consultant of the selected APEC economies).

3. Provide advice on standard procedures to develop action plans through provision of tools such as charts and checklists.

4. Provide a final report.

5. Update data developed in phases III and IV as necessary.

1. Develop guidelines, following consultations with the UN/ECE Secretariat, to assist APEC member economies to participate in the activities of WP 29.

2. Obtain information on the institutional and legislative arrangements in the two volunteer APEC economies and provide proposed action plans to achieve internationally harmonised regulatory systems for the automotive sector. Where appropriate, consideration should be given to the use of the APEC ‘model’ MRA for Automotive Product. The consultant will possibly need to travel to the chosen APEC economies to engage in detailed discussions with relevant government officials.

3. Provide and distribute a copy of the progress reports, draft final and final report by the prescribed due dates to the APEC Secretariat and members of the Steering Committee. This essentially amounts to approximately 5 copies of the report. The consultant will be supplied with a complete mailing list.

4. Provide the APEC Secretariat with a copy of all submissions forwarded to the Steering Committee.

5. Provide each member economy with a computer disk version of the final report.

6. All documents to be in English.

Steering Committee

The project will be overseen by a working group of participants involved in the Road Transport Harmonisation Project. Representatives of xxxx, xxxx, xxxx and xxxx have agreed to participate in the Steering Committee.

Timing

Bidders should be aware of the following timetable which the consultant is required to adhere to:

• APEC to commence contract with consultant by January 1999.

• Consultant to supply progress report by Friday 26 March 1999 for consideration at TPT-WG in April 1999.

• Consultant to supply progress report by Friday 20 August 1999 for consideration at TPT-WG in September 1999.

• Consultant to supply draft final report by Friday 19 November 1999.
  
• Feedback on draft final report from Steering Committee by Friday 3 December 1999.

• Consultant to provide final report by Friday 17 December 1999.

Proposals

Bidders should demonstrate their ability to meet the project requirements in a formal Proposal incorporating the following components:

• outline of methodology

• qualifications and experience of project team

• previous experience on tasks of this nature

• timeline

• itemised budget

 Lodgement of Proposals

Proposals must be lodged in accordance with the guidelines set out in

Annex A and Annex B.

Selection Process

Applicants will be selected on the basis of:

• soundness of methodology

• suitability of consultant personnel

• attention to detail

• demonstrated technical expertise in the automotive industry ie. experience in the motor vehicle standards and certification areas.

• awareness of the objectives of the APEC region and the goals of the Road Transport Harmonisation Project

• value for money

Budget

The maximum budget allocated for this project is US$50 000. Bids should be at or below this price.

Project Management

All enquires on this document and the overall project should be directed to the project overseer

Mr Mike Kimberlee
Director International Projects
Federal Office of Road Safety
Department of Transport and Regional Development
GPO Box 594
CANBERRA ACT 2601
AUSTRALIA
Phone +61 2 6274 7434
Fax +61 2 6274 7714
e-Mail: Mkimberl@email.dot.gov.au

This page was last updated on 10 Aug, 2006