Press Release: Better emission control of heavy duty vehicles: New global electronic on-board diagnostic systems

To better measure the emissions of heavy duty vehicles such as trucks and buses a new worldwide On-Board Diagnostic System was approved on 15 November 2006 in the UN/ECE organisation that deals with harmonising standards on a global scale. On-board diagnostics (OBD) are electronic systems which monitor the emissions performance of vehicles, including special warning signals. These systems are required by regulators around the world to ensure that vehicles continue to have good in-use emissions performance and to alert the driver to any malfunction. A new Global Technical Regulation (GTR) sets out on-board diagnostic performance requirements to which engine manufacturers must comply when developing new engines.