II

106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 3061

To require the President to negotiate an international agreement governing

the recall by manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment with safety-related defects

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

SEPTEMBER 15, 2000

Mr. ASHCROFT introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations

A BILL

To require the President to negotiate an international agreement governing the recall by manufacturers of motor

vehicles and motor vehicle equipment with safety-related

defects

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This bill may be cited as the ‘‘International Con5 sumer Safety Information Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT FOR RECALLS OF

2 AUTOS OR AUTO PARTS.

3 (a) INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENT.—The President

4 shall attempt to achieve the goal of an international agree5 ment governing the dissemination of information about re6 calls by manufacturers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle

7 equipment with safety-related defects. The President shall

8 take the necessary steps to begin negotiations within the

9 appropriate international fora not later than 60 days after

10 the date of the enactment of this Act.

11 (b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of these negotiations

12 shall be to establish an international agreement in which

13 government officials agree to cooperate in furthering glob14 al transparency with respect to motor vehicles or motor

15 vehicle equipment recalls so as to promote consumer safety

16 and to enhance consumer confidence.

17 (c) GUIDELINES FOR GOVERNMENTS.—The Presi18 dent shall consider the following criteria in the negotia19 tions referred to in (a):

20 (1) Member states should designate a com21 petent authority within their own national govern22 ment as the responsible authority for disseminating,

23 to the public and to other foreign authorities, infor24 mation about recalls of motor vehicles or motor vehi25 cle equipment.
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1 (2) Member states should cooperate at the

2 international level through their designated authori3 ties through information exchange, communication,

4 and joint action.

5 (3) Member states should make available, to the

6 public and to other governments through the collec7 tive publication of an Internet site managed for the

8 purpose of the international agreement negotiated

9 pursuant to this title, information on the following,

10 at a minimum:

11 (A) The name, title, and contact informa12 tion for the competent authority in each mem13 ber state regarding motor vehicles or motor ve14 hicle equipment recalls.

15 (B) The names of companies that have

16 issued recalls, the companies’ contact informa17 tion, and the specific products that are being

18 recalled.

19 (C) The countries in which the recalls are

20 effective, and the date of the recall.

21 (4) Member states, in the interest of getting all

22 relevant information to their competent authorities

23 and having those authorities share it with other

24 countries, should disseminate widely the final guide-
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1 lines negotiated to all relevant government depart2 ments, agencies, and branches of government.

3 (5) Developed Member states should seek to as4 sist developing states in implementing this agree5 ment, and to aid efforts by developing states to en6 sure compliance with the agreement.

7 (6) Member states should establish a framework

8 to conduct regular oversight and review to assess the

9 operation and effectiveness of the agreement and to

10 create a forum in which member states can share

11 with other states the domestic laws and regulations

12 they have adopted to implement the agreement.

13 (d) GUIDELINES FOR ENTERPRISES ENGAGED IN

14 TRADE.—The President shall seek to include in the inter15 national agreement guidelines on recalls for enterprises

16 engaged in exporting motor vehicles or motor vehicle

17 equipment or manufacturing motor vehicle equipment for

18 inclusion in vehicles to be exported. The President shall

19 consider the following criteria when conducting the nego20 tiations:

21 (1) TRANSPARENCY AND DISCLOSURE.—Enter22 prises that export autos or auto parts into the global

23 market or enterprises that manufacture component

24 parts for autos that are sold into the global market

25 should disclose all relevant information regarding a
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1 recall it undertakes to the competent authority in

2 the country it initiates the recall and to the com3 petent authority in the country in which it is incor4 porated. The information should be extensive enough

5 to facilitate the listing referred to in (C)(3).

6 (2) CONSUMER INTERESTS.—Enterprises

7 should be cognizant of the fact that consumers

8 transverse international borders and often take their

9 vehicles with them; therefore, the enterprises should,

10 to the greatest extent practical, make all consumers

11 aware of recalls of motor vehicles or motor vehicle

12 equipment, particularly in countries that border or

13 are in proximity to a country in which the recall was

14 initiated.

15 (3) COOPERATION WITH REGULATORY AU16 THORITIES.—Enterprises should cooperate promptly

17 with the national authorities in any country that is

18 requesting information about motor vehicle or motor

19 vehicle equipment recall in an effort to safeguard

20 consumer safety.
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1 SEC. 3. UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT COORDINATION OF

2 INFORMATION ON FOREIGN RECALLS OF

3 MOTOR VEHICLES OR MOTOR VEHICLE

4 EQUIPMENT.

5 (a) DEVELOPMENT OF EXPERTISE IN RECALLS OF

6 MOTOR VEHICLES OR MOTOR VEHICLE EQUIPMENT.—

7 The President should designate the Secretary of Trans8 portation as the competent authority in the United States

9 Government:

10 (1) The Secretary of Transportation should ad11 vise the President in negotiations referenced by sec12 tion 2.

13 (2) The Secretary of Transportation shall co14 ordinate with and draw on the expertise of the ap15 propriate officials in the Department of State, the

16 Office of the United States Trade Representative,

17 and the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminis18 tration.

19 (3) Until such time that the President con20 cludes the negotiations referenced in section 2 and

21 until there is an international Internet database that

22 compiles the information in section 2(C)(3), the Sec23 retary of Transportation shall post an official Inter24 net site detailing the information to the greatest ex25 tent possible, in section 2(C)(3) in addition to infor26 mation provided to the Secretary of Transportation
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1 by U.S. embassies abroad about recalls of motor ve2 hicles or motor vehicle equipment in foreign coun3 tries.

4 (b) COORDINATED FEDERAL STRATEGY.—The De5 partment of State shall establish procedures by which

6 United States embassies abroad will inform the Secretary

7 of Transportation immediately when the Ambassador or

8 commercial attache receives information about an impend9 ing or announced recall of motor vehicles or motor vehicle

10 equipment. Immediately thereafter, the Secretary of

11 Transportation shall notify the Senate Commerce Com12 mittee and the House Commerce Committee.

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