Interpretation ID: nht68-2.25

DATE: 06/14/68

FROM: AUTHOR UNAVAILABLE; William Haddon Jr. M.D.; NHTSA

TO: John J. Sparkman; United States Senate

TITLE: FMVSR INTERPRETATION

TEXT: This is in further reply to the matter raised in your note of May 21 and the accompanying correspondence from Mr. Jimmy R. Knight concerning his attempt to import a Volkswagen.

Section 108(a) of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act of 1966 (the Act) provides in part that no person shall import into the United States any motor vehicle manufactured on or after the date that any applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard takes effect unless that vehicle conforms with such standard. Section 108(b)(3) of the Act provides in pertinent part that a motor vehicle offered for importation in violation of the provision discussed in the previous sentence shall be refused admission under joint regulations issued by the Treasury Department and the Department of Transportation, except that regulations may be issued permitting the importation of such a motor vehicle upon such terms and conditions (including the furnishing of a bond) as may appear appropriate to the Secretaries of the Treasury and Transportation to insure that any such motor vehicle will be brought into conformity with any applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standard, or will be exported or abandoned to the United States. In implementation of section 108(b) (3) of the Act, Part 12 of the Customs Regulations was jointly issued and published in the Federal Register on January 10, 1968 - a copy is included as Attachment I. Prior to publishing Part 12 in final form, a notice of proposed rule making was published in the Federal Register and, at the same time, a news release was issued by the Federal Highway Administration detailing the requirements of the proposed regulation - a copy of the news release is included as Attachment II. Thereafter, upon publication of the final rule, a Department of Transportation news release was issued again detailing the requirements of the final rule - a copy of the DOT news release is included as Attachment III. Further, the requirements of Part 12 were communicated to the Department of Defense and the Department of State and those departments were urged to give the regulations the widest possible dissemination. Finally, the Customs Department printed an addition to its information booklet on the importation of automobiles into the United States in which the need to conform to applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards was specifically stated - a copy of the Customs publication is included as Attachment IV. Thus, the existence of the importation regulations contained in Part 12 relating to motor vehicles and the need to conform to applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards for such vehicles were given the widest possible publicity.

Under the Act, certification of conformity with Federal motor vehicle safety standards is a function of the manufacturer. It is the manufacturer, not the Federal Highway Administration, who certifies that his product conforms to applicable standards. In keeping with the requirement of self-certification in the Act, section 12.80(c) of the Customs Regulations provides that a person, after obtaining entry of a nonconforming vehicle under section 12.80(b)(2)(iii) of the Customs Regulations, must file, within the time stated, a verified statement that such motor vehicle has been brought into conformity, the person who has brought the vehicle into conformity and a description of the nature and extent of the work performed or return the vehicle or forfeit the bond. These provisions are applicable to Mr. Knight's situation. Mr. Knight's problem is that he cannot or will not state that the Volkswagen in question has been brought into conformity. This problem, in turn, apparently stems from the fact that no one but the manufacturer of the motor vehicle can state to what degree the Volkswagen was not in conformity in the first instance. It would seem, therefore, that the only practicable solution to Mr. Knight's problems is for him to contact the manufacturer of the motor vehicle to find out the extent to which the vehicle does not conform to applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards. Armed with the information, Mr. Knight, or persons knowledgeable in automotive mechanics, will know whether the vehicle can be made to conform and what needs to be done to being the vehicle into conformity. We are forwarding to Mr. Knight a complete set of applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards together with a copy of this letter. Further, we are including a copy of the applicable Federal motor vehicle safety standards as Attachment V.

We trust the above satisfactory answers the inquiry and if we can be of any further service to you in this regard, please do not hesitate to call upon us.