. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONG/TBT/N/CAN/49
24 October 2002
(02-5834)
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade Original: English/
French
NOTIFICATION
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6.
1. Member to Agreement notifying:   CANADA
If applicable, name of local government involved (Articles 3.2 and 7.2):           
2. Agency responsible:   Department of Transport
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers, e-mail and web-site
addresses, if available) of  agency or authority designated to handle comments
regarding the notification shall be indicated if different from above:
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [ X], 2.10.1 [    ], 5.6.2 [    ], 5.7.1 [    ], other:           
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff heading.
ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):   Rear impact guard
(ICS: 43.040.60)
5. Title, number of pages and language(s) of the notified document:   Proposed Amendment
to the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (Rear Impact Guard)  (English and French, pages
3068-3088)
6. Description of content:   The Department of Transport proposes to amend the
Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations  by introducing section 223, “Rear Impact Guard”. The
purpose of this section is to reduce the injuries and deaths that occur when a passenger
vehicle collides with the rear of a larger and heavier vehicle, such as a tractor-trailer. In
such collisions, the passenger vehicle may slide underneath, or underride, the trailer to such
an extent that the rear extremity of the tr ailer enters the passenger compartment. This
amendment proposal is intended to prevent passenger compartment intrusion, which can
cause severe injuries and death, by limiting the extent of rear underride.
This new section would require most trailers with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of
4,536 kg or more to be equipped with a rear impact guard that meets specified dimensional,
deflection, and energy absorption criteria.
This proposal would also introduce an attendant test method, also called “Rear Impact
Guard,” which sets out the procedure to be used for conducting the required strength andenergy absorption tests, in order to ensure consistency in testing.
Since the mandate of the Department of Transport is restricted to newly manufactured
motor vehicles, the requirements of section 223 would not apply to the rear impact guards
of trailers manufactured before the effective date of this amendment.
7. Objective and rationale, including the na ture of urgent problems where applicable:
Protection of human safetyG/TBT/N/CAN/49
Page 2
8. Relevant documents:   Canada Gazette, Part I, 5 October 2002
9. Proposed date of adoption:
Proposed date of entry into force: }Not stated
10. Final date for comments:   19 December 2002
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ X] or address, telephone and fax
numbers, e-mail and web-site addresses, if available of the other body:  The electronic
version of the regulatory text can be downloaded at:
http://canada.gc.ca/gazette/part1/pdf/g1-13640.pdf