Driving Permits WP1, 68th Session, 26 March 2014 Rebecca Huang, - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Transport Division United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Transport Division

WP1, 68th Session, 26 March 2014

Driving Permits

Rebecca Huang, Transport Facilitation and Economics Section

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 2 2

UNECE - Transport Division

• 1. Background
• 2. The issue
• 3. What the secretariat did/has

been doing

• 4. Preliminary analysis (based on

IDPs received so far)

• 5. Potential next steps:

i. Databank of IDPs

• ii. Amending annex 10 of the

1949 Convention on Road Traffic

• iii. Other considerations

Presentation Objectives

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 3 3

UNECE - Transport Division Background & Issue

FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile) contacted UNECE in July 2013

"I am writing regarding IDPs under the 1949 Convention on Road Traffic. We have recently received several requests from FIA member clubs that issue IDPS in their respective countries and that are currently looking into reprinting their IDPs. Some of them ask for PDF files of the 1949 IDP pages in the official languages of the UN, and some others also ask about the "official" translations of the IDP categories page to non-UN languages. Since the 1949 Convention states that "the authoritative translation of the text of the permit in the different languages shall be communicated to the Secretary General of the United Nations by Governments, each one in the language which concerns it", I was wondering whether these translations could be made available to issuing authorities in different countries for use in their IDPs."

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 4 4

UNECE - Transport Division What the ECE secretariat did/has been doing

• Requested translations of Model Page No. 3 from Contracting Parties to

both 1949 and 1968 Conventions (October 2013).

• Received clarification queries from a number of CPs.
• Sent follow up clarification email to request copies of IDP booklets or

photocopies (November 2013).

• To date, we have received 21 responses (9 IDP booklets and11 scanned

copies) from 17 CPs to the 1968 Convention and 4 CPs to the 1949 Convention.

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 5 5

UNECE - Transport Division Preliminary analysis of responses received

Based on preliminary review of the IDP booklets received (against the 1968 and 1949 Conventions),

• nly 1, possibly 2, fully comply with the Conventions

(including the footnotes).

• Some of the scanned copies may also be compliant, but it's hard to

tell.

• Need to see/request the IDP booklets.

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 6 6

UNECE - Transport Division Preliminary analysis of responses received

• Other observations:
• Encouraging to note that more than 50% of the 1968 IDP booklets

have been updated in relation to the pictograms, but a few are yet to be updated.

• A number of CPs are issuing the wrong IDPs (ie both 1949 and 1968

IDPs when they should only be issuing the 1968 ones, and 1968 IDP instead of 1949 IDP).

• If footnotes (per Model Pages in the Convention are missing), does

this constitute non-compliance? Many CPs do not include footnotes.

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 7 7

UNECE - Transport Division

IDP per Annex 7 of the 1968 Convention – Front grey outside and inside pages

GREY front cover (outside) GREY front cover (inside)

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 8 8

UNECE - Transport Division

IDP per Annex 7 of the 1968 Convention – EN white middle pages

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 9 9

UNECE - Transport Division

IDP per Annex 7 of the 1968 Convention – RU white middle pages

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 10 10

UNECE - Transport Division

IDP per Annex 7 of the 1968 Convention – SP white middle pages

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 11 11

UNECE - Transport Division

IDP per Annex 7 of the 1968 Convention – FR grey inside back cover pages

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 12 12

UNECE - Transport Division

Model IDP per Annex 10 of the 1949 Convention (GREY Cover and Inside Cover)

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 13 13

UNECE - Transport Division

Model IDP per Annex 10 of the 1949 Convention (WHITE Middle Pages, text of part I of the last page)

ENGLISH example SPANISH example

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 14 14

UNECE - Transport Division

Model IDP per Annex 10 of the 1949 Convention (Parts I and II of the Last Page to be in FRENCH and on GREY PAPER)

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 15 15

UNECE - Transport Division Issues related to IDPs

1. Limitations of current IDP (per 1968 and 1949 Conventions)

• Easily copied and altered (difficult for law enforcement

authorities to detect fraudulent permits from genuine permits)

• No register or directory of national motor vehicle agency

addresses for the inquiry and exchange of information to verify the validity of a presented IDP

• Suspension or cancellation of DDP should result in an

automatic cancellation of the IDP (not presently facilitated by the current system) 2. Model IDP (Annex 10) per 1949 Convention has not been updated (like 1968 Convention)

• Text only, no pictograms

3. Mandatory language specifications for IDP Model Pages 3 per 1968 and 1949 Conventions differ

• 1968 Convention: English, French, Russian and Spanish
• 1949 Convention: official languages of the UN

Under both Conventions, Contracting Parties are

• bliged to communicate the

middle pages of the different languages to the UN Secretary-General

Jean-Claude Schneuwly Slide 16 16

UNECE - Transport Division Potential Next Steps

1. Consider creating an electronic databank of IDPs issued by the CPs to both 1968 and 1949 Conventions

• Freely accessible to the public/all interested stakeholders?
• E-book or PDF style?

2. Update/amend Annex 10 of the 1949 Convention

• Update it for pictograms (as per 1968 Convention)

3. Consider how to address broader security and governance issues in relation to IDPs 4. Consider whether Annex 7 of the 1968 Convention in relation to required languages of Model Page 3 should be revised to include other official languages of UN (ie Arabic and Chinese)?