REGISTERED IMPORTER NEWSLETTER No. 34
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance
August 23, 2007
Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention
Standard
49 CFR Part 541
The purpose of this newsletter is to apprise you of amendments to the Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard in 49 CFR Part 541 that become effective on September 1, 2007 and that could impact your responsibilities as a registered importer (RI).
Background
The Federal Motor Vehicle Theft Prevention Standard (hereinafter referred to as the Theft Prevention Standard) was first issued in October 1985 to implement The Motor Vehicle Theft Law Enforcement Act of 1984, Pub. L. 98-547, which was enacted to address the then increasing concern over motor vehicle theft. The purpose of the Theft Prevention Standard is to reduce the incidence of motor vehicle theft by facilitating the tracing and recovery of parts from stolen vehicles.
The Theft Prevention Standard became effective for passenger cars beginning with model year (MY) 1987 vehicles. The standard originally identified a list of 12 to 14 passenger car parts, since expanded to a total of 18 parts, which must be marked with the vehicle identification number (VIN) of the vehicle on which they are installed if the vehicle is included in what is designated as a “high theft line.”[1] The Theft Prevention Standard was amended following the enactment of the Anti Car Theft Act of 1992 (ACTA) to apply to multi-purpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) and to light duty trucks (LDTs) with a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 2,722 kg (6,000 pounds) or less. The standard became effective for these classes of vehicle beginning with MY 1997 vehicles.
To comply with the parts marking requirements of the standard, a vehicle’s engine and transmission are typically stamped with the vehicle’s VIN, while a counterfeit-resistant label is affixed to the other designated major parts. Those parts include the right front fender; left front fender; hood; right front door; left front door; left rear door; sliding or cargo doors; front bumper; rear bumper; right rear quarter panel (passenger cars); left rear quarter panel (passenger cars); right-side assembly (MPVs); left-side assembly (MPVs); pickup box, and/or cargo box (LDTs); rear doors, decklid, tailgate, or hatchback (whichever is present).
Each model year, manufacturers may petition for exemption from the parts marking requirements for one car line. To qualify for the exemption, the car line must be equipped, as standard equipment, with an antitheft device that the agency has concluded is likely to be as effective in reducing and deterring motor vehicle theft as compliance with the parts marking requirements. If an exemption is granted, all vehicles produced in the car line must be equipped with the antitheft device the petition was based upon.
The ACTA also required manufacturers to mark the covered major parts installed in passenger motor vehicles (except light duty trucks) in not more than 50 percent of the lines not designated as high theft lines. In addition, the ACTA provided that unless the Attorney General made a finding that extending the requirements to the remaining lines of passenger motor vehicles (except light duty trucks) would not substantially inhibit chop shop operations and motor vehicle thefts, then the requirements must be extended to all passenger motor vehicles, except light duty trucks. On July 21, 2000, the Attorney General transmitted to the Secretary of Transportation a report (Docket No. 2002-1 1442) on the effectiveness of expanding the auto parts marking requirement. The Attorney General’s report concluded “that the available evidence warrants application of the vehicle theft prevention standard to the remaining motor vehicle lines.”
On April 6, 2004, NHTSA published a final rule (at 69 FR 17967) extending the anti-theft parts marking requirements, as mandated under the ACTA and the subsequent finding by the Attorney General. The final rule becomes effective September 1, 2007, and extends the parts marking requirement to all passenger cars, multipurpose passenger vehicles (MPVs) with a GVWR of 2,722 kg (6,000 pounds) or less, and certain LDTs with a GVWR of 2,722 kg (6,000 pounds) or less that were previously not subject to the parts marking requirements. LDTs are excluded from the parts marking requirements unless they have interchangeable parts with vehicles that are required to be marked or unless they have been determined to be high theft.
Impact on Registered Importers
Unlike the case with the Federal motor vehicle safety
standards (49 CFR Part 571) and the Bumper Standard (49 CFR Part 581), there is
no provision in the statute that authorizes the Theft Prevention Standard for a
vehicle that does not comply with that standard to be lawfully imported under
bond and be brought into compliance with the Theft Prevention Standard
following entry. As a consequence, all
vehicles that are subject to the Theft Prevention Standard must be in
compliance with the standard at the time they are offered for importation into
the
RIs must ensure that all vehicles that are now covered by
the Theft Prevention Standard, as detailed above, are appropriately marked
prior to their entry into the
[1] Not less than 15 months prior to the introduction of a new model line, the vehicle manufacturer is required to submit to NHTSA its evaluation, based on criteria set forth in 49 CFR Part 541, and conclusion regarding whether the model line is likely to have a theft rate above or below the 1990/91 median theft rate. Within 90 days, NHTSA will respond with the agency’s evaluation of whether the model line should be classified as high theft or low theft.