Interpretation ID: nht70-2.12

DATE: 06/15/70

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Douglas W. Toms; NHTSA

TO: Montgomery Ward

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT: Thank you for your letter of May 19, 1970, concerning the new Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213, Child Seating Systems.

In your letter, you ask whether the Montgomery Ward catalog can contain a statement to the effect that child seats advertised for sale in the catalog have been certified as meeting the requirements of Standard No. 213. There is no law or other prohibition against retailers of products covered by safety standards advertising the fact that the manufacturers have certified the products as conforming to the standards.

Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213 has a January 1, 1971, effective date. As a result, manufacturers of child seating systems will be required to certify that they conform to the standard only if the systems are manufactured on or after January 1, 1971. There is, however, to Federal law which prevents a manufacturer from voluntarily certifying that a child seating system manufacturered before the effective date of the standard conforms to the standard's requirements.

If I can be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to call upon me.

MONTGOMERY WARD

May 19, 1970

Mr. Douglas W. Toms U. S. Department of Transportation

In the next week we will present to our management selections for our Spring General Catalog for 1971. Included will be our selection of child seating systems. We assume today that the products of the two or three resources under consideration will qualify for certification under Standard 213. We are faced then with a problem of indentication unique to a catalog presentation.

Over a period of years the catalog shopper has had a choice of many seats covering a fairly wide price spectrum. As we see the results of this ruling, the customer will face a shortened selection and higher prices. Essentially the seats will not be visibly different from many previous seats to any substantial degree.

We also believe that there should be a significant amount of publicity attendent to the effective date of this Standard. It should be our responsibility to assure concerned parents that the seat purchased from Montgomery Ward was indeed built in compliance with these regulations. We are very much aware of consumer reaction to some disclosures by the Commission on Product Safety. Simply, we want to answer the question first and assure the consumer.

Therefore, in this Spring 1971 General Catalog can we add to the general copy a statement that "The manufacturer of these car seats had certified that they meet the requirements of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard Number 213, effective January 1, 1971?"

We appreciate your consideration to a problem facing the catalog oriented portion of a chain merchandising organization. We need the help of your office, because we feel we must let people, to whom we can not speak individually, know that we are aware of their concern.

H. W. Wollin, Buyer Furniture Mdse. Office