Interpretation ID: GF001563a

Mr. Ian James
Retainagroup Limited
134 Buckingham Palace Road
London SW1 W 9SA
England

Dear Mr. James:

This responds to your January 5, 2004, letter, as well as e-mail and phone communications with George Feygin of my staff, concerning the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations (NHTSAs) Federal motor vehicle theft prevention standard, 49 CFR Part 541 (Part 541). You ask if glazing is considered a part of the door for the purposes of the standards parts marking requirements. You also ask whether parts marking can be applied to vehicles at the point of export, as opposed to the point of manufacture.

We note that you originally wrote intending to comment on our June 26, 2002, notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that proposed revisions to the theft prevention standard (67 FR 43075). As Mr. Feygin informed you, the comment period for the NPRM closed on August 26, 2002. Nonetheless, because the issues you raise are primarily requests for interpretation of the standard, we can address them in this letter.

By way of background, the purpose of Part 541 is to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle thefts by facilitating the tracing and recovery of parts from stolen vehicles. The standard requires identifying numbers or symbols (usually Vehicle Identification Numbers, see 49 CFR Part 565) to be placed on major parts of certain passenger motor vehicles. 49 CFR 541.5 lists 18 "major parts" subject to the parts marking requirements. Front and rear doors are included in this list.

With respect to your first question, the agency does not consider window glazing that is mounted in and framed by a metal or fiberglass door structure to be a part of the "door" for the purposes of the parts marking requirements. Instead, under Part 541, the "door" is limited to the actual door structure. Glazing is designed and manufactured from a combination of glass and plastic, materials that are significantly different from metal and fiberglass normally used in manufacturing the "major parts" listed in 541.5. In inventory lists, manufacturers typically designate window glazing as a separate part from the metal doorframe. Glazing is also considerably more fragile than the major parts in 541.5, which makes it vulnerable to damage in a collision, and can be replaced relatively easily in a door. For these reasons, we do not consider marking the window glazing to meet 541.5s requirement to permanently mark the vehicles doors.

With respect to your second question, Part 541 does not require that parts marking be applied at the point of manufacture. However, a vehicle certified by the manufacturer to meet U.S. safety, bumper, and theft prevention standards must be marked prior to the delivery to dealer or distributor for the certification to be valid (49 U.S.C. 30115). Thus, the standard does not prohibit application of parts marking at the point of export so long as it is done prior to the delivery to distributor or dealer.

I hope you find this information helpful. If you have any other questions, please contact Mr. Feygin at this address or by phone at (202) 366-2992.

Sincerely,

Jacqueline Glassman
Chief Counsel

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