Source: http://www.nhtsa.gov/Laws+&+Regulations/ci.Recommended+Best+Practices+for+Importers+of+Motor+Vehicles+and+Motor+Vehicle+Equipment.print
Timestamp: 2014-07-31 23:40:53
Document Index: 660798678

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 577', 'art 556', '§ 30118', '§ 573', 'arts 573', 'art 551', 'art 566', 'art 565', 'art 574']

NHTSA, through its Recall Management Division, maintains the administrative records for all safety recalls, and monitors these recalls to ensure that the scope is appropriate, and that the recall completion rate and remedy are adequate. NHTSA’s monitoring of recall performance may lead to the opening of a recall investigation if the facts appear to indicate a problem with the adequacy or execution of the recall. A recall investigation may result in expanding the scope of a previously announced recall or in the adjustment of an existing recall remedy.
Notwithstanding its certification of a product, a fabricating manufacturer may subsequently determine that a noncompliance with an FMVSS or a safety-related defect exists in a motor vehicle or a motor vehicle equipment item it has produced. Manufacturers have a duty to notify NHTSA if they learn the vehicle or equipment contains a defect and in good faith they decide that the defect is related to motor vehicle safety, or in good faith they decide that the vehicle or equipment does not comply with an applicable FMVSS. See 49 U.S.C. 30118(c). The manufacturer must notify NHTSA within five working days after determining the existence of a noncompliance or a safety-related defect. See 49 CFR 573.6. Alternately, as discussed above, NHTSA may determine the existence of a noncompliance or a safety-related defect in a particular motor vehicle or motor vehicle equipment item and order the responsible manufacturer to recall the product. See 49 U.S.C. 30118(b).
Regardless of whether the noncompliance with an FMVSS or a safety-related defect is determined to exist by the manufacturer or by NHTSA, the manufacturer must provide owners and dealers of the affected products with notification of the noncompliance or defect and must remedy the noncompliance or defect, usually without charge. See 49 CFR part 577. There is a limited exception under which a manufacturer that has reported a noncompliance or safety-related defect to NHTSA may petition the agency for a determination that the noncompliance or defect is inconsequential as it relates to motor vehicle safety. [5] See 49 CFR part 556. The notification and remedy process is commonly referred to as a “safety recall campaign” or more simply as a “recall.” NHTSA monitors the remedy program to ensure its successful completion. The agency is not authorized to expend its funds on recalls; the expense of notifying owners and providing a remedy must be borne by the fabricating manufacturer and/or importer of the products found to contain the noncompliance or defect. See 49 U.S.C. §§ 30118 - 30120.
An importer’s primary obligation is to assure that the motor vehicle or item of motor vehicle equipment subject to the FMVSS that it imports into the United States contains the fabricating manufacturer’s certification of compliance with those standards. If a fabricating manufacturer is not located in the United States and does not conduct business operations in this country, including through a subsidiary or other controlled entity, the U.S. judicial system likely will not be able to effectively compel the foreign manufacturer to conduct a recall. In that case, the burden of providing notification to owners and dealers and a free remedy will fall solely upon the importer, unless the fabricating manufacturer voluntarily supports the recall. This is because under the Vehicle Safety Act, importers of motor vehicles and motor vehicle equipment for resale are considered “manufacturers” for the purposes of notification and remedy. See 49 U.S.C. 30102(a)(5). Where the fabricating manufacturer or importer finds a noncompliance or safety defect in a motor vehicle or equipment item imported into the United States, compliance with notification and recall responsibilities by either the manufacturer or the importer of the vehicle or equipment item is considered to be compliance by both. See 49 CFR § 573.3(b).
Importers must therefore recognize that they have obligations under the Vehicle Safety Act, which continue after motor vehicles or items of motor vehicle equipment are sold to consumers within the United States. If an importer becomes aware that a vehicle or equipment item it has imported does not comply with an applicable FMVSS or contains a defect related to motor vehicle safety, it must provide NHTSA, as well as owners and dealers of the affected vehicles or equipment, with notification of the noncompliance or defect and must remedy the noncompliance or defect, usually without charge to the consumer. An importer also has notification and remedy responsibility if NHTSA determines the existence of the noncompliance or defect and orders it to undertake a notification and remedy campaign. Importers should be fully familiar with all of the recall-related provisions of 49 CFR parts 573 and 577.
Before offering a vehicle or motor vehicle equipment item for sale in the United States, the fabricating manufacturer must: 1) comply with the requirements to designate a permanent resident of the United States as its agent for service of process if the fabricating manufacturer is not located in the United States (49 CFR part 551, subpart D Service of Process on Foreign Manufacturers and Importers) and 2) submit to NHTSA identifying information on itself and the products it manufactures to comply with the FMVSS, not later than 30 days after the manufacturing process begins (49 CFR part 566 Manufacturer Identification).[6] The fabricating manufacturer of a motor vehicle must also submit to NHTSA information the agency will need to decipher the manufacturer’s vehicle identification number (VIN) format not later than 60 days prior to offering the first vehicle for sale in the United States (49 CFR part 565 Vehicle Identification Number Requirements). The fabricating manufacturer of certain regulated equipment items such as brake hoses, glazing (automotive glass and plastics), and tires must label its products with identification numbers assigned to the manufacturer by NHTSA.[7]
A new tire manufacturer is required by NHTSA regulations to permanently mold into each tire intended for use on a motor vehicle a “tire identification number” or “TIN.” See 49 CFR part 574.5. Tire distributors and dealers that are owned or controlled by tire manufacturers are required to send to the tire manufacturers, records of any new tires they sell, including the TINs of the tires and the name and address of the tire purchasers. Independent tire distributors or dealers are required to furnish tire registration forms that identify the TIN and the tire distributor or dealer’s name and address to the purchasers of new tires, who may then mail the forms to the tire manufacturer. Instead of furnishing the tire purchaser with a registration form, independent tire distributors or dealers may electronically transmit tire purchaser and tire registration information to the tire manufacturer by secure means, as identified or authorized by the manufacturer.[8]