H. R. 1183

One Hundred Sixth Congress

of the

United States of America

AT THE FIRST SESSION

Begun and held at the City of Washington on Wednesday,

the sixth day of January, one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine

An Act

To amend the Fastener Quality Act to strengthen the protection against the sale

of mismarked, misrepresented, and counterfeit fasteners and eliminate unnecessary requirements, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of

the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Fastener Quality Act Amendments Act of 1999’’.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE.

Section 2 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5401) is

amended to read as follows:

‘‘SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

‘‘The Congress finds that—

‘‘(1) the United States fastener industry is a significant

contributor to the global economy, employing thousands of

workers in hundreds of communities;

‘‘(2) the American economy uses billions of fasteners each

year;

‘‘(3) state-of-the-art manufacturing and improved quality

assurance systems have dramatically improved fastener quality,

so virtually all fasteners sold in commerce meet or exceed

the consensus standards for the uses to which they are applied;

‘‘(4) a small number of mismarked, misrepresented, and

counterfeit fasteners do enter commerce in the United States;

and

‘‘(5) multiple criteria for the identification of fasteners exist,

including grade identification markings and manufacturer’s

insignia, to enable purchasers and users of fasteners to

accurately evaluate the characteristics of individual fasteners.’’.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

Section 3 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5402) is

amended to read as follows:

‘‘SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

‘‘As used in this Act, the term—

‘‘(1) ‘accredited laboratory’ means a fastener testing facility

used to perform end-of-line testing required by a consensus

standard or standards to verify that a lot of fasteners conforms

to the grade identification marking called for in the consensus

standard or standards to which the lot of fasteners has been

manufactured, and which—
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‘‘(A) meets the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 25 (or

another document approved by the Director under section

10(c)), including revisions from time-to-time; and

‘‘(B) has been accredited by a laboratory accreditation

body that meets the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 58

(or another document approved by the Director under section 10(d)), including revisions from time-to-time;

‘‘(2) ‘consensus standard’ means the provisions of a document that describes fastener characteristics published by a

consensus standards organization or a Federal agency, and

does not include a proprietary standard;

‘‘(3) ‘consensus standards organization’ means the American

Society for Testing and Materials, the American National

Standards Institute, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Society of Automotive Engineers, the International

Organization for Standardization, any other organization identified as a United States consensus standards organization or

a foreign and international consensus standards organization

in the Federal Register at 61 Fed. Reg. 50582–83 (September

26, 1996), and any successor organizations thereto;

‘‘(4) ‘Director’ means the Director of the National Institute

of Standards and Technology;

‘‘(5) ‘distributor’ means a person who purchases fasteners

for the purpose of reselling them at wholesale to unaffiliated

persons within the United States (an original equipment manufacturer and its dealers shall be considered affiliated persons

for purposes of this Act);

‘‘(6) ‘fastener’ means a metallic screw, nut, bolt, or stud

having internal or external threads, with a nominal diameter

of 6 millimeters or greater, in the case of such items described

in metric terms, or 1⁄4 inch or greater, in the case of such

items described in terms of the English system of measurement,

or a load-indicating washer, that is through-hardened or represented as meeting a consensus standard that calls for

through-hardening, and that is grade identification marked

or represented as meeting a consensus standard that requires

grade identification marking, except that such term does not

include any screw, nut, bolt, stud, or load-indicating washer

that is—

‘‘(A) part of an assembly;

‘‘(B) a part that is ordered for use as a spare, substitute,

service, or replacement part, unless that part is in a package containing more than 75 of any such part at the time

of sale, or a part that is contained in an assembly kit;

‘‘(C) produced and marked as ASTM A 307 Grade

A, or a successor standard thereto;

‘‘(D) produced in accordance with ASTM F 432, or

a successor standard thereto;

‘‘(E) specifically manufactured for use on an aircraft

if the quality and suitability of those fasteners for that

use has been approved—

‘‘(i) by the Federal Aviation Administration; or

‘‘(ii) by a foreign airworthiness authority as

described in part 21.29, 21.500, 21.502, or 21.617 of

title 14 of the Code of Federal Regulations;

‘‘(F) manufactured in accordance with a fastener

quality assurance system; or
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‘‘(G) manufactured to a proprietary standard, whether

or not such proprietary standard directly or indirectly references a consensus standard or any portion thereof;

‘‘(7) ‘fastener quality assurance system’ means—

‘‘(A) a system that meets the requirements, including

revisions from time-to-time, of—

‘‘(i) International Organization for Standardization

(ISO) Standard 9000, 9001, 9002, or TS16949;

‘‘(ii) Quality System (QS) 9000 Standard;

‘‘(iii) Verband der Automobilindustrie e. V. (VDA)

6.1 Standard; or

‘‘(iv) Aerospace Basic Quality System Standard

AS9000; or

‘‘(B) any fastener manufacturing system—

‘‘(i) that has as a stated goal the prevention of

defects through continuous improvement;

‘‘(ii) that seeks to attain the goal stated in clause

(i) by incorporating—

‘‘(I) advanced quality planning;

‘‘(II) monitoring and control of the manufacturing process;

‘‘(III) product verification embodied in a comprehensive written control plan for product and

process characteristics, and process controls

(including process influence factors and statistical

process control), tests, and measurement systems

to be used in production; and

‘‘(IV) the creation, maintenance, and retention

of electronic, photographic, or paper records

required by the control plan regarding the inspections, tests, and measurements performed pursuant to the control plan; and

‘‘(iii) that—

‘‘(I) is subject to certification in accordance

with the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 62 (or

another document approved by the Director under

section 10(a)), including revisions from time-totime, by a third party who is accredited by an

accreditation body in accordance with the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 61 (or another document

approved by the Director under section 10(b)),

including revisions from time-to-time; or

‘‘(II) undergoes regular or random evaluation

and assessment by the end user or end users of

the screws, nuts, bolts, studs, or load-indicating

washers produced under such fastener manufacturing system to ensure that such system meets

the requirements of clauses (i) and (ii);

‘‘(8) ‘grade identification marking’ means any grade-mark

or property class symbol appearing on a fastener purporting

to indicate that the lot of fasteners conforms to a specific

consensus standard, but such term does not include a manufacturer’s insignia or part number;

‘‘(9) ‘importer’ means a distributor located within the

United States who contracts for the initial purchase of fasteners

manufactured outside the United States;
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‘‘(10) ‘lot’ means a quantity of fasteners of one part number

fabricated by the same production process from the same coil

or heat number of metal as provided by the metal manufacturer;

‘‘(11) ‘manufacturer’ means a person who fabricates fasteners for sale in commerce;

‘‘(12) ‘proprietary standard’ means the provisions of a document that describes characteristics of a screw, nut, bolt, stud,

or load-indicating washer and is issued by a person who—

‘‘(A) uses screws, nuts, bolts, studs, or load-indicating

washers in the manufacture, assembly, or servicing of its

products; and

‘‘(B) with respect to such screws, nuts, bolts, studs,

or washers, is a developer and issuer of descriptions that

have characteristics similar to consensus standards and

that bear such user’s identification;

‘‘(13) ‘record of conformance’ means a record or records

for each lot of fasteners sold or offered for sale that contains—

‘‘(A) the name and address of the manufacturer;

‘‘(B) a description of the type of fastener;

‘‘(C) the lot number;

‘‘(D) the nominal dimensions of the fastener (including

diameter and length of bolts or screws), thread form, and

class of fit;

‘‘(E) the consensus standard or specifications to which

the lot of fasteners has been manufactured, including the

date, number, revision, and other information sufficient

to identify the particular consensus standard or specifications being referenced;

‘‘(F) the chemistry and grade of material;

‘‘(G) the coating material and characteristics and the

applicable consensus standard or specifications for such

coating; and

‘‘(H) the results or a summary of results of any tests

performed for the purpose of verifying that a lot of fasteners

conforms to its grade identification marking or to the grade

identification marking the lot of fasteners is represented

to meet;

‘‘(14) ‘represent’ means to describe one or more of a fastener’s purported characteristics in a document or statement

that is transmitted to a purchaser through any medium;

‘‘(15) ‘Secretary’ means the Secretary of Commerce;

‘‘(16) ‘specifications’ means the required characteristics

identified in the contractual agreement with the manufacturer

or to which a fastener is otherwise produced, except that the

term does not include proprietary standards; and

‘‘(17) ‘through-harden’ means heating above the transformation temperature followed by quenching and tempering

for the purpose of achieving uniform hardness.’’.

SEC. 4. SALE OF FASTENERS.

(a) AMENDMENT.—Sections 5 through 7 of the Fastener Quality

Act (15 U.S.C. 5404–6) are repealed, and the following new section

is inserted after section 3 of such Act:

‘‘SEC. 4. SALE OF FASTENERS.

‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—It shall be unlawful for a manufacturer

or distributor, in conjunction with the sale or offer for sale of

fasteners from a single lot, to knowingly misrepresent or falsify—
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‘‘(1) the record of conformance for the lot of fasteners;

‘‘(2) the identification, characteristics, properties, mechanical or performance marks, chemistry, or strength of the lot

of fasteners; or

‘‘(3) the manufacturer’s insignia.

‘‘(b) REPRESENTATIONS.—A direct or indirect reference to a consensus standard to represent that a fastener conforms to particular

requirements of the consensus standard shall not be construed

as a representation that the fastener meets all the requirements

of the consensus standard.

‘‘(c) SPECIFICATIONS.—A direct or indirect contractual reference

to a consensus standard for the purpose of identifying particular

requirements of the consensus standard that serve as specifications

shall not be construed to require that the fastener meet all the

requirements of the consensus standard.

‘‘(d) USE OF ACCREDITED LABORATORIES.—In the case of fasteners manufactured solely to a consensus standard or standards,

end-of-line testing required by the consensus standard or standards,

if any, for the purpose of verifying that a lot of fasteners conforms

with the grade identification marking called for in the consensus

standard or standards to which the lot of fasteners has been manufactured shall be conducted by an accredited laboratory.’’.

(b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—Subsection (d) of section 4 of the Fastener

Quality Act, as added by subsection (a) of this section, shall take

effect 2 years after the date of the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 5. MANUFACTURERS’ INSIGNIAS.

Section 8 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5407) is

redesignated as section 5 and is amended—

(1) by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

‘‘(a) GENERAL RULE.—Unless the specifications provide otherwise, fasteners that are required by the applicable consensus

standard or standards to bear an insignia identifying their manufacturer shall not be offered for sale or sold in commerce unless—

‘‘(1) the fasteners bear such insignia; and

‘‘(2) the manufacturer has complied with the insignia

recordation requirements established under subsection (b).’’;

and

(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘and private label’’ and

all that follows and inserting ‘‘described in subsection (a).’’.

SEC. 6. REMEDIES AND PENALTIES.

Section 9 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5408) is

redesignated as section 6 and is amended—

(1) in subsection (b)(3), by striking ‘‘of this section’’ and

inserting ‘‘of this subsection’’;

(2) in subsection (b)(4), by inserting ‘‘arbitrate,’’ after ‘‘Secretary may’’; and

(3) in subsection (d)—

(A) by inserting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘ENFORCEMENT.—’’; and

(B) by adding at the end the following new paragraph:

‘‘(2) The Secretary shall establish and maintain a hotline system

to facilitate the reporting of alleged violations of this Act, and

the Secretary shall evaluate allegations reported through that

system and report any credible allegations to the Attorney General.’’.
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SEC. 7. RECORDKEEPING REQUIREMENTS.

Section 10 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5409) is

redesignated as section 7 and is amended by striking subsections

(a) and (b) and inserting the following:

‘‘Manufacturers and importers shall retain the record of

conformance for fasteners for 5 years, on paper or in photographic

or electronic format in a manner that allows for verification of

authenticity. Upon request of a distributor who has purchased

a fastener, or a person who has purchased a fastener for use

in the production of a commercial product, the manufacturer or

importer of the fastener shall make available information in the

record of conformance to the requester.’’.

SEC. 8. RELATIONSHIP TO STATE LAWS.

Section 11 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5410) is

redesignated as section 8.

SEC. 9. CONSTRUCTION.

Section 12 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C. 5411) is

redesignated as section 9 and is amended by striking ‘‘in effect

on the date of enactment of this Act’’.

SEC. 10. CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION.

Sections 13 and 15 of the Fastener Quality Act (15 U.S.C.

5412 and 14) are repealed, and the following new section is inserted

at the end of that Act:

‘‘SEC. 10. CERTIFICATION AND ACCREDITATION.

‘‘(a) CERTIFICATION.—A person publishing a document setting

forth guidance or requirements for the certification of manufacturing systems as fastener quality assurance systems by an accredited third party may petition the Director to approve such document

for use as described in section 3(7)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall

act upon a petition within 180 days after its filing, and shall

approve such petition if the document provides equal or greater

rigor and reliability as compared to ISO/IEC Guide 62.

‘‘(b) ACCREDITATION.—A person publishing a document setting

forth guidance or requirements for the approval of accreditation

bodies to accredit third parties described in subsection (a) may

petition the Director to approve such document for use as described

in section 3(7)(B)(iii)(I). The Director shall act upon a petition

within 180 days after its filing, and shall approve such petition

if the document provides equal or greater rigor and reliability

as compared to ISO/IEC Guide 61.

‘‘(c) LABORATORY ACCREDITATION.—A person publishing a document setting forth guidance or requirements for the accreditation

of laboratories may petition the Director to approve such document

for use as described in section 3(1)(A). The Director shall act upon

a petition within 180 days after its filing, and shall approve such

petition if the document provides equal or greater rigor and reliability as compared to ISO/IEC Guide 25.

‘‘(d) APPROVAL OF ACCREDITATION BODIES.—A person publishing

a document setting forth guidance or requirements for the approval

of accreditation bodies to accredit laboratories may petition the

Director to approve such document for use as described in section

3(1)(B). The Director shall act upon a petition within 180 days

after its filing, and shall approve such petition if the document

provides equal or greater rigor and reliability as compared to ISO/
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IEC Guide 58. In addition to any other voluntary laboratory accreditation programs that may be established by private sector persons,

the Director shall establish a National Voluntary Laboratory

Accreditation Program, for the accreditation of laboratories as

described in section 3(1)(B), that meets the requirements of ISO/

IEC Guide 58 (or another document approved by the Director under

this subsection), including revisions from time-to-time.

‘‘(e) AFFIRMATION.—(1) An accreditation body accrediting third

parties who certify manufacturing systems as fastener quality

assurance systems as described in section 3(7)(B)(iii)(I) shall affirm

to the Director that it meets the requirements of ISO/IEC Guide

61 (or another document approved by the Director under subsection

(b)), including revisions from time-to-time.

‘‘(2) An accreditation body accrediting laboratories as described

in section 3(1)(B) shall affirm to the Director that it meets the

requirements of ISO/IEC Guide 58 (or another document approved

by the Director under subsection (d)), including revisions from timeto-time.

‘‘(3) An affirmation required under paragraph (1) or (2) shall

take the form of a self-declaration that the accreditation body

meets the requirements of the applicable Guide, signed by an

authorized representative of the accreditation body, without requirement for accompanying documentation. Any such affirmation shall

be considered to be a continuous affirmation that the accreditation

body meets the requirements of the applicable Guide, unless and

until the affirmation is withdrawn by the accreditation body.’’.

SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY.

At the end of the Fastener Quality Act, insert the following

new section:

‘‘SEC. 11. APPLICABILITY.

‘‘The requirements of this Act shall be applicable only to fasteners fabricated 180 days or more after the date of the enactment

of the Fastener Quality Act Amendments Act of 1999, except that

if a manufacturer or distributor of fasteners fabricated before that

date prepares a record of conformance for such fasteners, representations about such fasteners shall be subject to the requirements

of this Act.’’.
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SEC. 12. COMPTROLLER GENERAL REPORT.

Not later than 2 years after the date of the enactment of

this Act, the Comptroller General shall transmit to the Congress

a report describing any changes in industry practice resulting from

or apparently resulting from the enactment of section 3(6)(B) of

the Fastener Quality Act, as added by section 3 of this Act.

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

Vice President of the United States and

President of the Senate.