Interpretation ID: aiam3816
Chief Engineer
Materials Engineering
Wagner Division
McGraw-Edison Company
18448 Craig Road
St. Louis
MO 63146;
Dear Mr. Brown: This responds to your letter concerning Safety Standard No. 116, *Moto Vehicle Brake Fluids*. You asked whether paper labels on brake fluid containers are sufficient to comply with the 'indelibly marked' requirements of the standard. As discussed below, the answer to your question is no.; By way of background information, I would note that NHTSA does no grant approvals of motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment. Under the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to determine that its motor vehicles or motor vehicle equipment comply with applicable safety standards. The following represents our opinion based on the facts provided in your letter.; Section S5.2.2.2 of Standard No. 116 states: >>>Each packager of a brake fluid shall furnish the followin information clearly and indelibly marked on each brake fluid container. . . .<<<; It is our opinion that this section requires the relevant informatio to be marked directly on the brake fluid container and not merely on a label, whether paper or of some other material, that is affixed to the container. This is clear both from the plain language of the section and from the Federal Register notices proposing and adopting that language.; In a notice of proposed rulemaking published on September 30, 1970 NHTSA proposed the following language as part of the packaging and labeling requirements for motor vehicle brake fluids:; >>>S4.2.2.2 Each packager of brake fluid shall furnish to eac distributor or dealer to whom he sells brake fluid, the following information clearly and indelibly marked on each brake fluid container, or on a label or tag firmly attached to each such container. . . . 35 FR 15229, 15231.<<<; The final rule, published on June 24, 1971, did not adopt the propose alternative of permitting the information to be provided on a label or tag firmly attached to the container, but instead required the information to be clearly and indelibly marked on each brake fluid container. The language as adopted, which is very similar to the current language, was:; >>>S5.2.2.2 Each packager of motor vehicle brake fluid shall furnis the following information clearly and indelibly marked on each brake fluid container. . . . 36 FR 11987, 11989.<<<; If you have any further questions, please let me know. Sincerely, Frank Berndt, Chief Counsel