Interpretation ID: 1984-3.6

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 08/17/84

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Mr. C.O. Marti -- General Manager, Compenhia Pnmeus Tropical (Brazil)

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This responds to your letter asking how to proceed to have your products certified to conform to the standards issued by this agency, so that you can sell your tires in the United States.

All tires for use on passenger cars imported into the United States must be certified as complying with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 109 (49 CFR @ 571.109), and all tires for use on other motor vehicles must be certified as complying with Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 119 (49 CFR @ 571.119). I have enclosed copies of both of these standards for your information. You will see that the standards specify performance requirements (strength, endurance, high speed performance, and, for passenger cars only, resistance to bead unseating), marking requirements (treadwear indicators and labeling information), and tire and rim matching information requirements which must be met by all tires to be sold in the United States.

With respect to the performance requirements, you asked how you should proceed to have your products certified to conform to the appropriate standard. The European nations require manufacturers to deliver tires for testing by a governmental entity. However, the United States follows a different procedure. For our purposes, the manufacturer itself must certify that its tires comply with the requirements of all applicable safety standards. Further, this agency does not require that the certification be based on a specified number of tests or any tests at all; we only require that the certification be made with the exercise of due care on the part of the manufacturer. It is up to the individual manufacturer in the first instance to determine what data, test results, or other information it needs to enable it to certify that its tires comply with the applicable standards. Certainly, we recommend that a manufacturer selling tires in the United States test those tires according to the procedures specified in the applicable standard. Once a manufacturer has determined that its tires meet the requirements of the applicable standard, it certifies that compliance by molding the letters "DOT" on one sidewall of each certified tire.

For purposes of enforcement, this agency conducts spot checks of tires after they have been certified, by purchasing and testing tires according to the procedures specified in the applicable standard. If the tires pass the tests, no further steps are taken.

If the tires fail the tests and are determined not to comply with the applicable standards or if it is determined that the tires contain a safety-related defect, the manufacturer of the tires is required to remedy the problem. Section 154(a)(2)(B) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act (15 U.S.C. 1414(a)(2)(B)) specifies that, in the case of tires which fail to comply with a standard or contain a safety-related defect, the manufacturer may elect to either:

(1) repair the tires so that the defect or noncompliance is removed; or

(2) replace the tire with an identical or reasonably equivalent tire which does not have the defect or noncompliance.

Whichever of these options is chosen, the tire manufacturer must bear the expense and cannot charge the tire owner for the remedy.

It is a simple matter to check the tires to see that the marking requirements in the respective standards have been satisfied. I should point out that the U.S. Customs Service will not allow tires without the DOT marking to enter the United States.

With respect to the tire and rim matching, this information, as well as the loading schedules for the tire size (showing the maximum load the tire can carry at designated inflation pressures) must eitner be set forth in a current standardization organization publication or be furnished by the manufacturers to each of their dealers and in duplicate to this agency. You may wish to obtain a copy of the most current publication by the American standardization organization to see if your company can use the loading schedules and tire and rim matching information published therein for the particular tire sizes you wish to sell in the United States. That publication may be ordered by sending $ 8.50 plus postage costs to: The Tire and Rim Association, 3200 West Market Street, Akron, Ohio 44313. If the tire sizes and corresponding rims listed in that publication for those sizes are satisfactory, you will have complied with this requirement. However, if the sizes are not listed or you believe different values should be assigned, you may consult the publications of other standardization organizations or you may elect to furnish the appropriate information to this agency and to each of your dealers. I should note that the Brazilian standardization organization to which you refer in your letter is not recognized by this agency for the purposes of either of the tire standards, so you can not rely on its publications.

I am also enclosing a copy of another regulation that applies to your tires, 49 CFR Part 574, Tire Identification and Recordkeeping. This requires every tire sold in this country to be labeled with certain information (see @ 574.5), including the manufacturer's identification mark. To obtain an identification mark, you should follow the steps set forth in @ 574.6 of this regulation.

Further, this regulation requires each manufacturer to furnish forms to its tire dealers to record the names and addresses of the first purchasers of these tires. The completed forms will then be returned to the tire manufacturer, or some party designated by the manufacturer to receive those forms. This is necessary in case the manufacturer must recall the tires to remedy a noncompliance with an applicable standard or a safety-related defect. It may be necessary for you to make arrangements with some party in this country to store the completed forms for your.

Finally, I am enclosing a procedural rule which applies to all parties subject to the regulations of this agency (49 CFR Part 551). This regulation requires all manufacturers headquartered outside of the United States to designate a permanent resident of the United States as the manufacturer's agent for service of process in this country. The agent may be either an individual or a business entity. The manufacturer identification mark which Part 574 requires you to mold on one sidewall of each of your tires will not be assigned until we have received a valid designation of agent from your company. Part 551 specifies that the designation of agent must contain the six following items of information:

1. A certification that the (Illegible Word) is valid in form and binding on your company under the laws, corporate by-laws, or other requirements governing the making of the designation at the time and place where it is made;

2. The full legal name, principal place of business and mailing address of your company;

3. Marks, trade names, or other designations of origin of any of your tires which do not bear the name of your company;

4. A statement that the designation shall remain in effect until withdrawn or replaced by your company;

5. A declaration of acceptance duly signed by the agent appointed by your company, and the agent may be an individual, firm, or U.S. corporation; and

6. The full legal name and address of the designated agent.

If you need any further information or a clarification of some of the information set forth in this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me.

ENCLS.

April 10, 1984 GG-042/84

NATIONAL HIGHWAY TRAFFIC SAFETY ADMINISTRATION Office of Chief Council

Gentlemen,

CIA PNEUS TROPICAL is a Brazilian private manufacturer of tires, tubes and related items, with sales in the domestic and Latin American markets. Our plant, located at Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brazil, has a daily nominal production capacity of over fifty two metric tons, and its buildings occupy an area of nearly fifty thousands square meters; started production on the last quarter of 1976 and produces bias ply tires for passenger cars, commercial vehicles, trucks, buses and motors graders, of which we are enclosing one set of descriptive leaflets.

Our Quality Control, designed and operated according to the model of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., Akron, Ohio, USA, through its Brazilian branch, besides the high level of automation of our production equipment, assures the high uniformity of our products and its compliance with the standards of the Associacao Brasileira de Pneus e Aros, an organism with scopes similar to those of the American Tire and Rim Association, as well as with the Brazilian Standards on Traffic Safety.

We are sure that our tires and tubes will have a good acceptance at the American market, moreover if we make some small adjustments of load range in our truck and buses tires, aiming the preferences of the American users, what can be done most easily.

We will very much appreciate your kind notices on how to proceed to have our products certified to conform to the standards of NHTSA, in order they can be placed into the United States of American market.

Looking forward to hear from you, we remain,

C.O. Marti General Manager