The Australian Government has notified the World Trade Organization (WTO) of its intention to introduce a new Australian Design Rule (ADR) 81/03. This notification was made through the WTO’s Technical Barriers to Trade system, which allows other governments and interested parties to review proposed technical regulations before they are finalised.
The new ADR 81/03 would establish an updated fuel and energy consumption label for light vehicles that meet the stricter testing standards under ADR 79/05. These changes aim to ensure that the labels seen by consumers more accurately reflect real-world driving performance under the latest emissions testing procedures.
The exposure draft of ADR 81/03, along with its explanatory statement, is now available for review. The dDepartment of Infrastructure has opened a 30-day notification period to gather feedback from interested stakeholders before the rule is finalised. Once that period concludes, the Minister will be briefed to approve the new ADR.
In addition to ADR 81/03, the Department intends to introduce related updates to several other design rules. These include a consequential amendment to ADR 81/02 to reference the new label, an amendment to ADR 30/01 to align with later series of ADRs 79 and 80, and further updates to ADRs 79/05 and 80/04 to recognise the Euro 7 and US Tier 4 standards for noxious emissions.
These proposed changes represent another step in aligning Australian vehicle standards with the latest international testing and emissions frameworks, supporting both consumer transparency and environmental outcomes.
The Department has asked members of the Emissions Testing Technical Working Group and other stakeholders to review the draft instruments and explanatory statements. Feedback or questions should be submitted by Thursday 6 November.
Further information can be sought by contacting Ashley Sanders.