G/TBT/N/USA/1818  
6 January 2022  
(22-0107) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade  Original:  English  
 
  
NOTIFICATION  
The following notification is being circulated in accordance with Article 10.6  
 
1. Notifying Member:  UNITED STATES OF AMERICA   
If applicable, name of local government involved (Article 3.2 and 7.2):   
2. Agency responsible:  Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) [1847]  
Name and address (including telephone and fax numbers , email and website 
addresses, if available) of agency or authority designated to handle comments 
regarding the notification shall b e indicated if different from above:   
Please submit comments to: USA WTO TBT Enquiry Point, Email: usatbtep@nist.gov  
3. Notified under Article 2.9.2 [   ], 2.10.1 [   ], 5.6.2 [   ], 5.7.1 [   ], other  [X]:  
4. Products covered (HS or CCCN where applicable, otherwise national tariff 
heading. ICS numbers may be provided in addition, where applicable):  Small 
passenger vessels; Protection against fire (ICS 13.220), Small craft (ICS 47.080)  
5. Title, number of pages  and language(s) of the notified document:  Fire Safety of 
Small Passenger Vessels (14 page(s), in English)  
6. Description of content:  Interim rule - The Coast Guard is issuing an interim rule as the 
first step to implementing the statutorily mandated requ irements for fire safety on certain 
covered small passenger vessels. This statutory mandate is in response to the fire and 
loss of life on the dive boat CONCEPTION off the coast of California on 2 September 2019. 
This interim rule adds additional fire safe ty requirements for small passenger vessels, 
including fire detection and suppression systems, avenues of escape, egress drills, crew 
firefighting training, watchmen monitoring devices, and the handling of flammable items 
such as rechargeable batteries.  
7. Objective and rationale, including the nature of urgent problems where 
applicable:  Protection of human health or safety  
8. Relevant documents:   
86 Federal Register (FR) 73160, 27 December 2021; Title 46 Code of Federal 
Regulations (CFR) Parts 114, 116, 118, 122, 175, 177, 181, and 185:  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2021-12-27/html/2021 -27549.htm  
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR -2021-12-27/pdf/2021 -27549.pdf  
This interim rule is identified by Docket Number USCG -2021-0306. The Docket Folder is 
available from Regulations.gov at  https://www.regulations.gov/docket/USCG -2021-
0306/document  and provides access to primary and supporting documents as well as 
comments received. Documents are also accessible from  Regulations.gov  by searching 
the Docket Number. WTO Members and their stakeholders are asked to submit comments 
to the  USA TBT Enquiry Point  by or before 4pm Eastern Time on 27 June 2022. Comments 
received by the USA TBT Enquiry Point from WTO Members and their stakeholders will be G/TBT/N/USA/1818  
 
- 2 - 
 
  shared with the regulator and will also be submitted to the  Docket  on Regulations.gov if 
received within the comment period.   
9. Proposed date of adoption:  To be determined  
Proposed date of entry into force:  To be determined  
10. Final date for comments:  27 June 2022  
11. Texts available from:  National enquiry point [ ] or address, telephone and fax 
numbers and email and website addresses, if available , of other body:   
https://members.wto.org/crnattachments/2022/TBT/USA/22_0126_00_e.pdf