Interpretation ID: nht67-1.13

DATE: 05/08/67

FROM: WILLIAM HADDON, JR., -- NHTSA

TO: EARL W. KINTNER -- ARENT, FOX, KINTNER, PLOTKIN & KAHAN

TITLE: NONE

ATTACHMT: ATTACHED TO LETTER DATED 05/13/87, TO WILLIAM E DANNEMEYER FROM ERIKA Z JONES, REDBOOK A30(2), STANDARD 211; LETTER DATED 05/10/67, TO HAROLD T. HALFPANNY FROM LOWELL K. BRIDWELL; LETTER DATED 04/10/87 TO WILLIAM E. DANNEMEYER FROM EDWARD J. BABBITT; LETTER DATED 03/30/87 TO ED BABBITT, FROM WILLIAM E DANNEMEYER; LETTER DATED 11/06/86, TO LARRY THUNDERBIRD AND MUSTANG FROM JOHN H HEINRICH AND J. MICHAEL ZEHNER

TEXT: Dear Mr. Kintner:

This is in response to your letter of April 7, 1967, in behalf of the Motor Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) regarding the application of the Initial Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to original equipment and replacement parts.

I am pleased to have this opportunity to answer the questions which have been raised by the MEMA members and outlined in your letter. Before doing so, however, I would like to briefly discuss and clarify the effect of the actions taken March 29, 1967, by the National Traffic Safety Bureau, regarding Standard Nos. 111 and 206.

In your letter you have quoted certain language from the preamble to the amendments of Standards Nos. 111 and 206, and interpreted such language to mean that original equipment manufactured on or after January 1, 1968, and replacement parts for vehicles manufactured on or after that date, fall within the regulations of these two Standards. I must advise that this interpretation is not correct. These standards as now amended no longer apply to equipment, but only to the vehicles specified in the standard when such vehicles are completed by the vehicle manufacturer on or after January 1, 1968.

It should be noted that where, as in the case of amended Standard Nos. 111 and 206, the paragraph designated "S.2" and entitled, "Application," refers only to vehicles and not to vehicle equipment, the person responsible for compliance is the vehicle manufacturer. This is true notwithstanding the fact that identifiable equipment may be referred to and made the subject of control in some other paragraph of the standard. For example, Standard No. 107, in paragraph S4, refers to the "horn ring and hub of sterring wheel assembly," and prohibits a specular gloss of the surface of such equipment from exceeding a specified brightness. The vehicle manufacturer is solely responsible for compliance with this requirement.

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There are now sixteen of the twenty initial standards which require compliance only by the vehicle manufacturer. However, Standard Nos. 106, 205, 209 and 211 each refer to equipment for use in specified motor vehicles in the application paragraph. Compliance and certification is required by both equipment manufacturers and vehicle manufacturers with regard to these four standards.

I will now direct myself to your specific questions which I will quote and follow with a brief answer:

(1) Do all of the Initial Standards require compliance and certification by parts manufacturers as to replacement parts for vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1968?

Answer: No, only Standard Nos. 106, 205, 209 and 211.

(2) Which of the Initial Standards, if any, apply to replacement parts produced on or after January 1, 1968, for vehicles manufactured prior to that date?

Answer: Standard Nos. 106, 205, 209 and 211.

(3) With respect to question 2, is a certification required of the affected equipment manufacturers in such cases?

Answer: Yes.

(4) With respect to questions 1-3, are the compliance and certification requirements any different where the replacement part involved are identical to the original equipment for vehicles produced on or after January 1, 1968?

Answer: No.

(5) Do the Initial Standards require manufacturers of original equipment produced on or after January 1, 1968, to certify their products?

Answer: The requirement for certification of motor vehicle equipment found in section 114 of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act, provides in the pertinent part that:

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"Every manufacturer or distributor of . . . motor vehicle equipment shall furnish to the distributor or dealer at the time of delivery of such . . . equipment . . . the certification that each such . . . item of motor vehicle equipment conforms to all applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards . . ."(emphasis supplied).

It should be noted that neither the Act in section 114, nor the standards which are applicable to vehicle equipment, make any distinction between "original equipment" and "replacement equipment." Where applicable equipment is delivered to a "distributor" or "dealer," as those terms are defined in the Act, then certification is required. However, where such equipment is delivered to a vehicle manufacturer, as the term "manufacturer" is defined in the Act, then no certification is required. Therefore, if the term "original equipment" as used in your question is intended to mean equipment delivered to vehicle manufacturers for incorporation into new vehicles manufactured after January 1, 1968, then the answer to your question is that no certification is required.

I trust that the foregoing response adequately answers the questions you have raised. However, if I can be of assistance to you with further clarification, please do not hesitate to let me know.

I very much appreciate your assurance of cooperation and support, in behalf of MEMA. Notwithstanding the fact that there will be numerous items of motor vehicle equipment, particularly replacement parts, which will not be directly regulated by the initial Federal Safety Standards, it is my earnest hope that MEMA manufacturers and all other motor vehicle equipment manufacturers, will make every effort to voluntarily comply with all of the standards in the interest of motor vehicle safety.

Sincerely yours,