Procedures for Implementation of the Fastener Quality Act

The Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), United States Department of Commerce, and the Under Secretary of the Bureau of Export Administration, United States Department of Commerce, and the Under Secretary for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, United States Department of Commerce (collectively referred to as the Department) are today issuing a final rule amending regulations found at 15 CFR part 280 implementing the Fastener Quality Act (FQA). A notice of proposed rulemaking on this topic was published in the Federal Register on December 15, 1999. This final rule responds to comments received on the December 15, 1999 notice of proposed rulemaking and incorporates into the regulations amendments to the Fastener Quality Act contained in the Fastener Quality Act Amendments of 1999. The changes include the elimination of testing and paperwork requirements and of NIST's role in evaluating and approving bodies that accredit laboratories and registrars. The final rule amends the regulations to set forth the procedures under which NIST will accept petitions for approval of certain documents and self-declarations for accreditation bodies. The final rule also amends the enforcement provisions of the regulations to set forth violations as they are contained in the amended FQA. The final rule amends the recordal of insignia provisions of the regulations to remove all references to private label distributors and to provide that fasteners whose insignia must be recorded are those fasteners that are required by the applicable consensus standards to bear "an insignia" rather than a "raised or depressed insignia," and that these fasteners are not subject to the recordal requirements if the specifications provide otherwise.