Efforts are being made at the World Forum for the Harmonization of Vericle Regulations (WP29) for the international harmonization of safety and environment standards.
The UN/ECE 1958 Agreement is valid in Europe, where the international distribution of automobiles and international transport
facilities are well established. In 1998, Japan became the first non- European country to accede to the UN/ECE 1958 Agreement, and since then has facilitated the adoption of ECE standards as Japanese ones. The UN/ECE 1958 Agreement has been signed by 43 countries and one region.
In addition, The Global Vehicle Technical Agreement(Global Agreement) for automobile standardization was signed by Japan, the
US and Eurpoe in 1998, and Japan acceded to the Agreement in August, 1999. The Agreement became effective in August 2000.
For the purpose of internationalization in the automobile industry, the Japanese government is appealing to the international community to encourage more countries to join in harmonized standards system.

JASIC

The Japan Automobile Standards Internationalization Center (JASIC) was founded in 1987 as a result of collaboration among the government and industry organizations to promote activities related to international harmonization of standards and mutual recognition of vehicle certification. In 1988, JASIC established an office in Geneva and in 1998 in Washington.
With the help of its overseas offices, JASIC presents the Japanese views at international conferences. Also, JASIC has been studying ways to adopt more ECE standards in collaboration with outside experts.
In future from a viewpoint of establishing "global standards"〔Global Technical Regulation (gtr)〕, JASIC will study and propose the global harmonization of regulations in additon to the adoption of the ECE standards.
Furthermore, JASIC participates in conferences in Asia on international harmonization to strengthen the cooperation with Asian governments.
In order to facilitate these activities, JASIC issues English translations of Japan’s safety regulations and Japanese translations of ECE Regulation, EU Directive, and US MVSS.