Interpretation ID: 1983-2.41

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 08/08/83

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Merchant's Inc. -- Buck Burwell, Vice President

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT:

Mr. Buck Burwell: Vice President Merchant's, Inc. 9073 Euclid Ave. Manassas VA 22110

Dear Mr. Burwell:

This responds to your recent letter to Mr. Kratzke of my staff, asking questions about a group of trucks tires you wish to sell. Specifically, your company received a large shipment of truck tires from Tong Shinn Chemical Company in Korea. Some of those tires did not have the D.O.T. symbol and other information labelled on the sidewall, as required for all new truck tires by Safety Standard No. 119, New pneumatic tires for motor vehicles other than passenger cars (49 CFR S571.119). Your company tried to return the tires to the Korean manufacturer, because tires which do not meet the requirements of Standard No. 119 may not be legally sold in this country. However, the Korean manufacturer has gone out of business, leaving your company with $15,000 worth of tires which may not be sold legally in this country unless appropriate information is labelled on the sidewalls.

You indicated in your letter that you would be willing to label the appropriate information onto the sidewalls of the tires. Tong Shinn has indicated that those tires are of the same quality as the tires it shipped to you with the DOT markings. Further, you indicated that your company would be willing to store the names and addresses of the purchasers of these tires, in the event a safety-related recall is necessary. After considering these facts and representations, I believe you may label the tires with the necessary information and sell them, provided that you get some more information from the Korean manufacturer.

This agency has previously allowed the marking of truck tires by a party other than the manufacturer in only one instance. That case, which also involved imported truck tires, included four factors which led the agency to make an exception to the policy that only a tire manufacturer can label the necessary information on the sidewall of the tires. Those factors were:

(l) The manufacturer certified that the unmarked tires met the requirements of Standard No. 119, except for the labelling requirement;

(2) The manufacturer provided the appropriate information to be labelled on the tires;

(3) The manufacturer agreed to be responsible for the tires in the event of a safety-related recall; and

(4) The manufacturer agreed that the marking method to be used by the importer would not weaken the tires and destroy their compliance with Standard No. 119.

In this case, Tong Shinn has already provided the first item listed above. It will be necessary for you to contact Tong Shinn to learn what information should be labelled on the tires for purposes of section S6.5 of Standard No. 119 (copy enclosed) and also the appropriate codes and information for the tire identification number, which must be labelled on the sidewalls of the tires per 49 CFR 574, Tire Identification and Recordkeeping (copy enclosed). Please furnish Mr. Kratzke with a copy of the information you receive from Tong Shinn on this subject.

As to the third item above, you indicate that your company would be willing to be responsible for the tires in the event of a safety-related recall. To do so, it will be necessary for your company to record the names and addresses of the purchasers of these tires, and store that information for a three year period. For further information on the responsibilities you will have to undertake, see section 574.7 for tire registration requirements for tire manufacturers.

It will also be necessary for you to contact Tong Shinn and explain how you propose to make the information on the side-walls of these tires, and get them to agree that this method of marking the tires will not affect their compliance with Standard No. 119. Again, please furnish a copy of that agreement to Mr. Kratzke of this office.

After you have received this additional information, this agency has no objection to your company marking the tires and selling them. Please understand that this is permitted only because of the unique circumstances of this particular situation, and that if the Korean manufacturer had not gone out of business, you would not be allowed to mark these tires. However, in these circumstances, some flexibility in the requirements is necessary to help you avert a financial loss, while maintaining the necessary safety assurances for purchasers of these tires. If you have any further questions or need additional information, please contact Mr. Steve Kratzke of my staff at (202) 426-2992.

Sincerely,

Frank Berndt Chief Counsel Enclosures

June 29, 1983

Dear Mr. Kretzke:

We have received in our latest shipment, 142 Truck Tires without D.O.T. markings, from Tong Shinn Chemical Company, in Korea.

These tires were mixed in with other tires of the same size that were properly D.O.T. marked. Since discovering the problem we have learned that the manufacturing company has gone out of bus-iness. As a result, we are left with approximately $15,000.00 worth of truck tires that we are at this point, unable to sell. Under normal circumstances we would return the tires to the supplier at their expense.

We know these tires meet D.O.T. standards and have attached notarized correspondence to that effect. We are asking that D.O.T. authorize us to sell these tires after stamping them with any marking that you may require. We can also record the purchasers, should any problems arise with the tires.

This would be a considerable loss to our company if we were unable to resolve the problem.

Thanking you very much for your help in this matter.

Sincerely yours,

Buck Burwell Vice President

BB/cg

Enclosure Omitted.