Interpretation ID: 1984-1.40

TYPE: INTERPRETATION-NHTSA

DATE: 04/19/84

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; Frank Berndt; NHTSA

TO: Margaret Moore Oba -- Hino Motors (U.S.A.) Inc.

TITLE: FMVSS INTERPRETATION

TEXT:

MS. Margaret Moore Oba Hino Motors (U.S.A.) Inc. 200 Park Avenue, Suite 4116-12 New York, New York 10166

This responds to your March 12, 1984 letter regarding the applicability of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards to motor vehicles imported into Guam.

Under sections 102(8), 102(9), and 108(a)(1)(A) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966, 15 U.S.C. 1391(8), 1391(9), and 1397(a)(1)(A), motor vehicles introduced into commerce in Guam are subject to Federal Motor Vehicles Safety Standards. In general, the standards apply to the same extent to vehicles imported into Guam as to those imported into the continental U.S. However, as you note in your letter, FMVSS 103 (windshield defrosting and defogging systems) does not apply outside the continental U.S., as specified in section 3 of that standard. See 49 CFR 571.103. Other standards such as FMVSS 124, which do not limit their applicability to specific geographic areas, apply fully in Guam. Therefore, vehicles imported into Guam must have an accelerator control system which returns the throttle to idle over a temperature range of -40 degrees F. to +125 degrees F.

Original signed by Frank Berndt

March 12, 1984

Dear Mr. Berndt:

1) Re: Applicability of F.M.V.S.S. in Guam

We, Hino Motors, are a heavy duty diesel truck manufacturer, and are interested in importing Class 6 and 7 trucks to Guam and Saipan. We would appreciate if you would be so kind as to clarify the jurisdiction of the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (F.M.V.S.S.) in Guam. We are aware that the F.M.V.S.S. were made applicable to Saipan in 1978, and that dispensation from certain standards had been granted until October of 1981. We would like to know if the F.M.V.S.S. are applicable to Guam as well, and also, if there are any similar exceptions due to local conditions.

2) Re: F.M.V.S.S. 124

We would also like to receive clarification of the applicability of F.M.V.S.S. 124, regarding acceleration control systems. F.M.V.S.S. 103, Windshield Defrosting and Defogging Systems, is limited in its applicability to the fifty states of the United States. Is F.M.V.S.S. 124, which stipulates that the throttle be able to return to idle despite extreme temperatures ranging from -40oF to +125oF, applicable only to the continental U.S., or does it also apply to Hawaii and territories like Guam and Saipan?

We would greatly appreciate your prompt response to our inquiries. Thank you very much for your kind cooperation.

Original Signed by Margaret Moore Oba

cc: Mr. S. Ikoma, Tech. Div. Tokyo