METRIC IMPORTERS OF NORTH AMERICA -- index 2

METRIC IMPORTERS OF NORTH AMERICA -- index 2
Our Mission Statement:
To join as a common voice to correct the inequities being imposed upon the
metric fastener importers and distributors by the Fastener Quality Act
Underlined text indicates a clickable link. Just click on the links below to go to the appropriate page section or linked page. Please use your back button to return to the prior page or page section.

MEETINGS THAT NIST HAS CANCELLED OUT ON AFTER THEY WERE SCHEDULED:    last updated or revised: 07/01/98. There may may be more of these that we are unaware of. Please advise us if NIST has cancelled a scheduled meeting with you or your organization. We will post that information here.
updated 06/24/98, rev 07/13/98, rev 10/10/98, rev 01/10/99:
Go to the latest June 1999 FQA delay information
The delay date below is now obsolete.
FQA IMPLEMENTATION DELAYED 90 DAYS UNTIL OCTOBER 25, 1998!
NIST finally admits that there will be an insufficient number of laboratories accredited.
NIST has replaced the press release announcement: on their website with the more technical text announcement here. MINA has also posted the official Federal Register version of the delay announcement.   You may view the full text of both NIST announcements and the Federal Register notice on the MINA website.

updated 8/23/98:

FQA IMPLEMENTATION COULD BE DELAYED AGAIN
UNTIL MID 1999 PER P.L.105-234!
The actual date depends somewhat upon the NIST interpretation of the law and how soon NIST will be able to actually submit their required report to congress. Then, of course what action congress will take when they get the NIST report.
updated 07/8/98, rev 07/12/98:
The latest nonsense from NIST! Does NIST actually believe that the whole world can sell off all its non FQA compliant fastener inventory by October 25, 1998?
This is an excerpt (the purple text) from the new "Facts on FQA" info posted by NIST on July 8, 1998.
"While industry will be able to continue to sell pre-FQA fasteners after the implementation date, the opportunity exists for industry to draw down its inventory of pre-FQA fasteners, and to replace it with FQA compliant fasteners. To do this, industry should take advantage of the extension of the implementation date to October 25, 1998. This extension gives industry ample time in which to sell their remaining noncompliant fasteners and to create an inventory of compliant fasteners."
Ten Years might not even be sufficient "ample time" to do what NIST suggests could be done to sell off pre-FQA inventory in just a few months! And as far getting replacement inventory; have you tried to purchase any FQA compliant fasteners? It has been our experience in the metric world that there is almost nothing currently available. Not sure what its like for inch based fasteners, but we suspect a similar situation. You can see the complete "Facts on FQA" by clicking here.
Click here to see the July 7, 1998 NIST update to its list of answers on FASTENER QUALITY ACT QUESTIONS & ANSWERS (June 10, 1998 - Version 1.0.) Even NAFTA gets no consideration from this new NIST answer!
This is an excerpt (the purple text) from the updated NIST Q & A page.
"To certify NAFTA to allow fasteners to be imported from Canada under the exemption, the United States would have to enter into negotiations with Canada to develop "satisfactory arrangements" by which purchasers in the United States can readily gain access to original laboratory testing reports for such fasteners. Such negotiations could take a considerable length of time.
For a couple of years, MINA has been asking NIST about these free trade exemptions. We have never received a satisfactory answer from NIST on why they have not pursued this option.

The appropriate section of the regulation follows:
Under Section 7(b)(2)(A) of the Act, the requirement that the delivery of any shipment of fasteners to an importer be accompanied by an original laboratory testing report shall not apply in the case of fasteners imported into the United States "as products manufactured within a nation which is party to a congressionally-approved free trade agreement with the United States that is in effect, so long as the Secretary certifies that satisfactory arrangements have been reached by which purchasers within the United States can readily gain access to an original laboratory testing report for such fasteners." Section 280.13(b)(1) of the regulations requires that the Director of NIST publish this certification in the Federal Register.
updated 01/10/99:
A summary of PTO activity on fastener insignia registration since June 1998. Below are listed the monthly totals from PTO data published as of 12/01/98. As is evident from the table below there has been a steady decline in registrations.


June 1998 32

July 1998 29

August 1998 13

September 1998 17

October 1998 2

November 1998 1

updated 07/6/98, rev 07/12/98, rev 08/25/98, rev 08/29/98:
After many requests from MINA, PTO is finally publishing head marking listings on the web. You will need Adobe Acrobat reader software to properly view the acrobat reader software . PTO has NOT provided a link on their page to the necessary software, however MINA has it available here. If you do not have the Proper Acrobat Reader software, then just follow the instructions below:
Download the free acrobat reader software from the: [Acrobat download page]
Then use your back button to return to this page.
A quick tip for using the Acrobat software: to search for data within the file click on the icon with the 'binocular' symbol. Do not use your browsers 'find' menu item as it does not work within Acrobat files.
MINA has suggested to the PTO that they include the acrobat reader software on their head marking listings page and they advised that they will look into it.
Also do not be dismayed by the message: "NIST does not necessarily endorse the views expressed or the facts presented on this site." that you get when clicking on the link from the NIST/FQA site to the PTO site. We have been assured that NIST probably doesn't really mean it with regard to the PTO. However, if they don't mean it, then why don't they change it.

rev 08/25/98:
Some of the following MINA comments (up to the next horizontal rule) have been addressed, now that PTO is publishing the head marking listings on their website.
MINA has now received a copy of the revised head marking listings through June 23, 1998. The last one was dated 4/2/98. Read on to see why this date becomes critically important! We will try to publish the listings later this week.
They have now been published by MINA.
Click here for the June 23, 1998 head marking listings.
Please be patient. This is a large file and will take a bit of time to load.

There is a new category in our PTO head marking listings. PTO is now advising which head marking listings which had been previously approved but are now no longer valid (Inactive). Just one more important item that you must be aware of before you offer any product that conforms the FQA regulations!
(As of late June 1998, PTO still had not made the decision to publish this head marking information on the web.)
This brings up some very interesting questions:
What is your legal liability for offering FQA approved product from a supplier that was approved by NIST when the product was originally sold, but the supplier has now been de-listed?
If PTO does not make the de-listing information immediately and publicly available, can the BXA prosecute you for not knowing that the supplier was de-listed?
What happens to the saleability of product in the marketplace which carries a de-listed head marking?
How can you know that the product was originally made and sold while the head marking was still on the approved list?
There are many more questions that this latest 'Gotcha' from NIST will bring to light. Lets hear your questions
[ e-mail to MINA webmaster ] on this matter so that we can throw them at NIST!
BULLETIN:

NIST announces a June 16, 1998 Public Meeting about the Quality Assurance System (QAS) regulations of the Fastener Quality Act (FQA), in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
This notice was just published by NIST on June 1, 1998. Note the very short cutoff dates for Question submission -- June 5, 1998; and registration of individuals wishing to participate -- June 10, 1998. See the text of the announcement for the full details. BULLETIN:
NIST cancels the June 16, 1998 Public Meeting about FQA Quality Assurance
NIST statement 06/10/98:
"The June 16, 1998 meeting at NIST has been cancelled due to a very large volume of questions that were to be addressed at the meeting, and our inability to develop the answers in the short time available. For future information, please keep in touch with our website at http://www.nist.gov/fqa. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvienience we may have caused."
updated 07/1/98:
NIST cancelled a promised June 23, 1998 meeting with DISC (The U.S. Government's DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL SUPPLY CENTER). In response DISC/GIFWG (Government Industry Fastener Working Group), sent NIST a scathing letter on June 22, 1998 about the FQA. We have excerpted a few portions of that letter here. (the purple text)
" I cannot emphasize it enough, that implementation on the 26th of July 1998, as currently planned, will have a devastating impact on the entire fastener industry.
Of equal importance is a more precise definition of which fasteners are covered by the law. These 2 issues are interrelated in that the types of fasteners impacted by the law will dictate the fields of testing that will need laboratory accreditation.
The truth of the matter, however, is that it isn't the number of accredited labs that's important but rather the number of labs accredited in all of the fields of fastener testing.
The bottom line from all this is that for one to say that 500 accredited labs are sufficient, or 600 or 1000, is foolhardy. What if we had 1000 labs accredited and they were all foreign, or they were all owned by manufacturers, or none of them were accredited for one of the fields of fastener testing called out in the standards?
It is imperative that implementation of the FQA meet its stated objectives without jeopardizing this multi-billion dollar industry."

You can read the complete DISC letter here.
updated 06/10/98, rev 06/27/98, rev 07/6/98, rev 07/8/98 (the July 7, 1998 NIST updated version):
NIST has finally posted the the compilation of "Questions and Answers" that were received during the 1996-1997 industry workshops. Lots of words but not a lot of real answers! Plus many contradictions to previously announced answers.
updated 06/21/98:
It is very obvious that there will NOT be anywhere enough commercial labs approved by July 26, 1998 to do the expected volume of FQA testing. Hopefully, NIST will now realize this and grant a further realistic extension of the implementation date (that means at least six months to a year). At this rate of lab certification it may take an additional year to get enough commercial labs approved. That assumes that there will even be enough companies interested in doing commercial work. Remember that even if a lab will accept your commercial work, they must be approved to do the exact tests that your fastener standard requires. This means that the real number of commercial labs is actually much smaller than the totals reflect. You will probably have to use more than one lab just to cover all the tests for a given lot of product. What happens if there is not any further interest from the business community in getting more labs FQA approved? Except for manufacturers with their own FQA approved labs (and there are not very many of them), will we be limited to just these few commercial labs trying to certify the whole worlds FQA fastener production?

updated 06/27/98 -- NIST's announcement on 06/24/98 grants a 90 day delay until October 25, 1998 (a little more realistic than the impossible prior 60 delay). This should give the Senate enough time to work on their version of the FQA amendments. Stay tuned.
BULLETIN 06/6/98 -- There is a rumor, repeat RUMOR, that there was an amendment to H.R. 3824 and that it may cause a delay in implementation until the later of: June 1, 1999 or 120 days following the submittal to Congress by the Secretary of Commerce a report detailing changes in technology that have occured in fastener production since the enactment of the FQA and his reccommendation for changes to the FQA. Said report is to be presented to Congress by February 1, 1999. MINA is trying to verify this rumor.

Rumor update 06/10/98 -- It might be true. See the congressional update here. We are trying to verify if this congressional action will actually delay the implementation date. Stay tuned!

Rumor update 06/11/98 -- It might be true, but it apparently must get through congress and be signed by the president to be in effect. We are STILL trying to verify if this congressional action will actually delay the implementation date.

Rumor update 06/16/98 -- Get the sense of the house committees deliberations on H.R. 3824 including their discussions on the delay and possible REPEAL next year.
Committee Report - House Rpt. 105-574 Part 1. Fantastic stuff.
Rumor update 06/17/98 -- H.R. 3824 was passed by the full house of representatives on 06/16/98. Click here for the summary text. Good news again.

Remember that the deadline for announcing any further delay in the implementation date due to the availabilty of FQA approved labs is June 26, 1998. Since the H.R. 3824 legislation comes out of the same committee that regulates NIST; it is possible that we will also see the effects of the H.R. 3824 delay announced at the same time. MINA will be sending NIST the latest lab survey results next week. So far the MINA lab survey shows that there will only be a handful of labs available to accept commercial work.

Rumor update 06/21/98 -- From 'Fastener Industry News' -- June 8, 1998: Staffers from Congressman Denny Hastert (IL) met with Secretary of Commerce William Daley about the FQA, Daley indicated that he would NOT exercise his executive authority to delay the implementation date. This means congress needs to act before July 26, 1998.

Rumor update 06/27/98 -- House floor discussion on H.R. 3824 including their discussions on the delay and possible REPEAL of the FQA. FASTENER QUALITY ACT AMENDMENTS (House of Representatives - June 16, 1998) More fantastic stuff.
updated 06/5/98
Aircraft industry has bill introduced into congress to exempt themselves from parts of the FQA.
Updated details on H.R. 3824 introduced into congress on May 11, 1998 and S.1325 amendment introduced into congress on May 22, 1998:

updated: 05/30/98, rev 08/29/98
S.1325 was subsumed into H.R.3824 when it became P.L.105-234. We have moved the sections pertaining to S.1325 from this page to another page.
updated or revised 08/23/98, 10/10/98:
Oct 8, 98: Congressional hearing on changes to the FQA per P.L. 105-234 before the Technology Subcommittee of the House Committee on Science.
Aug 14, 98:    H.R. 3824 was signed by the President and has become law as P.L.105-234
Aug 10, 98:   Enrollment completed. H.R. 3824 has now been presented to the President.
Aug 6, 98: H.R. 3824 (Text of the final version as sent to the White House) Passed the House with the Senate amendments without objection.    It's on its way to the White House. (Actually, it'll take about 10 days to be "enrolled", for transfer to the White House for a Presidential signature.)
According to the June 16, 1998 White House Policy Statement which follows, the President will sign the bill.:
"H.R. 3824 - Fastener Quality Act Amendments The Administration has no objection to House passage of H.R. 3824, which would delay the implementation of the Fastener Quality Act and would exempt certain aircraft fasteners from coverage under the Act."
Aug 3, 98: Message on Senate action was sent to the House.
Jul 31, 98: Passed the Senate with amendments by Unanimous Consent. The two bills as passed by the House & Senate are slightly different. Thus, procedurally, either the Senate version must be accepted by the House, again, as passed, or the Senate and House must appoint "conferees" who must then agree how to consolidate the two versions into one, forward to House & Senate for final passage, and then present to the White House for final signature. This legislation is on track with, however several steps remaining.
Jul 27, 98, rev Aug 2, 98: Senate Committee on Commerce. Reported to Senate by Senator McCain with amendments. With written report No.105-267. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 498. This version of the bill, H.R. 3824 RS includes the new Senate Committee on Commerce revisions which include the June 1, 1999 delay and add an additional condition: "a comparison of the Fastener Quality Act to other regulatory programs that regulate the various categories of fasteners, and an analysis of any duplication that exists among programs".
updated 06/27/98, rev 07/6/98, rev 07/12/98 -- Some more progress in the Senate on H.R.3824 RFS/S.1325.
Looks like the Senate Committee on Commerce is also in favor of the FQA delay!
June 18, 98: H.R.3824 RFS Received in the Senate.
June 24, 98: Read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Commerce.
July 9, 98: Senate Committee on Commerce. Ordered to be reported with an amendment favorably.

For current legislative updates on the FQA -- Use the search word 'fastener'.
See http://thomas.loc.gov/
updated 11/10/98
FQA LAW PAGE -- TEXT OF LAW & REGULATIONS    The FASTENER QUALITY ACT P.L. 101-592 as amended by P.L. 104-113 and P.L. 105-234.    On 11/09/98 NIST posted this new page on their website. It incorporates the FAA exemptions from P.L. 105-234 but does not mention the latest June 1, 1999 implementation delay.
NIST Press Release:
NIST PUBLISHES FINAL RULE FOR FASTENER QUALITY ACT, EXTENDS IMPLEMENTATION DATE UNTIL JULY 26, 1998:
THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT: text of the actual law ( Public Law 101-592 as amended by Public Law
104-113 ).
TEXT OF FINAL RULE FOR FASTENER QUALITY ACT: raw text from federal register.
SUMMARY OF FINAL RULE FOR FASTENER QUALITY ACT: raw text from federal register.
TEXT OF FINAL RULE FOR FASTENER QUALITY ACT: NIST organized text by group.
THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT: text of the actual law ( Public Law 101-592 as amended by Public Law
104-113 ) on the NIST website.
THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT - IMPLEMENTING REGULATIONS: text of the actual regulations on the NIST website.
06/26/98 FEDERAL REGISTER CORRECTIONS TO THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT REGULATIONS: NOT mentioned on the NIST website.
07/09/98 FEDERAL REGISTER CORRECTIONS TO THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT REGULATIONS: NOT mentioned on the NIST website.
ACTUAL FEDERAL REGISTER TEXT OF THE OCTOBER 25, 1998 DELAY TO THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT; NOT linked from the NIST website.
ACTUAL FEDERAL REGISTER TEXT OF NIST NOTICE ON 02/19/98 TO THE OMB Office of Management and Budget (OMB) THAT THE FASTENER QUALITY ACT MAY CAUSE UNDUE BURDEN ON INDUSTRY:
This is an excerpt (the purple text) from that notice.
"NIST has determined that the implementation of the Fastener Quality Act (FQA) may cause undue burden on the industry or force NIST to postpone the implementation date. The fastener industry affected by this collection of information uses a quality assurance system of manufacturing that has to be registered through NIST-approved accreditors for FQA. Because the registration cannot be accomplished before the implementation date, NIST has developed an alternative approach. NIST will be collecting information from persons seeking provisional listing. The information obtained will provide assurance that applicant organizations comply with the Act during the one-year provisional listing period."
NEW! MINA designed; NIST approved format for section 280.11 (a)(3)
Significant Alteration Notification Form.
NEW! MINA designed; NIST approved format for section 280.5 (c)
Manufacturers Certificate of Conformance form.

updated: 08/09/98, rev 10/10/98
FEDERAL REGISTER NOTICES NOT MENTIONED ON THE OFFICIAL NIST FQA WEBSITE. We have noticed that this NIST practice of NOT informing those affected by the FQA about these legislative/regulatory actions has become routine.
October 7, 1998 Federal Register Notice on P.L.105-234 (request for public comments)    10/07/98. The period for public comment is very short with a deadline of November 6, 1998.
September 30, 1998 notice is for Paperwork Reduction Act comments on the application requirements. NIST established a program under which private entities may apply for approval to engage directly in the accreditation of laboratories for the testing of fasteners under the Act and to accredit registrars that register manufacturing facilities that utilize quality assurance systems. Comment deadline is 30 days from September 30, 1998. NIST projected that they expect only 13 responses
revision 10/10/98:
It was not until October 8, 1998 that NIST finally pubished a new official implementation delay notice on their website which incorporated the unpublicised September 28, 1998 Federal Register Notice.
September 28, 1998:
Federal Register Notice on P.L.105-234   09/28/98 The Director of NIST, under authority delegated by the Secretary of Commerce, and pursuant to Pub. L. 105-234, is postponing the effect of the Fastener Quality regulation by extending its implementation date until June 1, 1999. As a service to the public, those wishing to seek registration or accreditation, or record fastener insignia may continue to do so on a purely voluntary basis under the procedures set out in the regulation.

NIST projected that they expect only 10 responses to the first 07/15/98 notice and 50 responses to the second 07/15/98 notice. Not a surprising projection when they do not publish this information on their own FQA website. Both notices published on 07/15/98 have a comment period that ends September 14, 1998 so there is still time to respond.
The first 07/15/98 notice is for Paperwork Reduction Act comments on the Quality Act--Laboratory Accreditation Body Approval and Registrar Accreditation Body Approval.
The second 07/15/98 notice is for Paperwork Reduction Act comments on the Quality Act--Provisional Listing of Facilities.
Also there was a second FQA correction notice (2) posted on 08/5/98 for the June 30, 1998 FQA Final rules.
"Summary: In the June 30, 1998 Federal Register notice announcing the final rule and extension of implementation date for the Fastener Quality Act, important information was inadvertently omitted from one of the amendments, which has created ambiguity in the final rule. Accordingly, the Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is publishing this notice to correct that amendment."
Note: this was NIST's second attempt to get it right. Their first FQA correction notice (1) posted on 07/9/98 also concerned the June 30, 1998 Federal Register.
rev 08/23/98, 09/01/98, 09/13/98, 09/27/98, 10/10/98, 12/01/98, 01/10/99:
Fastener Quality Assurance System Provisional Listing on the NIST website
There have been no new companies listed since 10/29/98. Perhaps most companies that have QS9000 programs are now wisely waiting to see what happens with any revisions to the FQA.
NIST is periodically releasing these listings. Only 23 facilities are on the 10/29/98 revised listing (as of 01/07/99 this was the latest info).
MINA is surveying them for their in house vs commercial work status and the types of testing they are doing and will report the results here. Due to the nature of QS9000 certification and some of the surveys that have already been returned, they will all be probably considered as in house facilities.
MINA has also resubmitted its questions to NIST about several of our concerns about product liability and product recalls from these provisionally approved facilities in case they do not receive fully certified status by the NIST deadline.
rev 08/23/98:
MINA sent the following message and list of questions to NIST ON 08/19/98:
Now that H.R.3824 has become PL 105-234 MINA has questions on the NIST interpretation and implementation of the law.

1. When does NIST plan to start working on the required report?
2. When and how does NIST plan to inform industry about the required report?
3. When and where does NIST plan to hold open meetings on the required report?
4. When does NIST plan to start accepting written comments from the public and industry on the required report?
5. When does NIST plan to submit the required report to Congress?
6. Will Lab certification and provisional registration be allowed to continue during this review period?
7. Can PTO continue to accept and register trademarks and headmarks?
8. Can fasteners currently being manufactured in an FQA certified environment per the May 14, 1998 rules still be labeled and sold as being in full FQA compliance?
9. What is the status of provisionally accepted labs? Their compliance period ends in May of 99? Will the review period extend the date for compliance?
10. What happens to labs whose approval may expire during the review period? Will they be granted an automatic extension to cover the loss of time that their lab could not do FQA testing due to the review period?

As of 08/20/98 the reply from NIST was: " We are yet to decide on the process and when we decide we will post on the [NIST/FQA] website and Federal Register (if neeeded). Please keep in touch with our [NIST/FQA] website for details."
rev 08/23/98, 08/29/98, 09/08/98:
MINA has now learned that there will in fact be a Federal Register notice. It is expected to be issued shortly and will describe the delay in complete detail. NIST should also be issuing a press release on P.L.105-234 this coming week (as of 09/08/98 it still had not been issued!). The press release will probably just basically restate the law. We will have to wait for the Federal Register notice to get the real NIST interpretation of P.L.105-234.
If anyone has any suggestions on what else MINA should ask NIST about the H.R.3824/P.L.105-234 legislation, then please contact: LEE SACKS or BONNIE CARTER.
Remember MINA still needs more members in order to help stop the irresponsibly costly and unnecessary FQA from becoming implemented. The more voices that we represent, the louder we are heard!
The latest official NIST information on the FQA is published on the OFFICIAL U.S. GOVERNMENT FQA WEB SITE.
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June 1998	32
July 1998	29
August 1998	13
September 1998	17
October 1998	2
November 1998	1

Please note that all Trademarks and Tradenames are the property of their respective owners. copyright 1997, 1998, 1999 METRIC IMPORTERS OF NORTH AMERICA -- all rights reserved -- ver date 07/17/99 index2.html [Enhanced for Netscape/IE -- best viewed at 800x600] Thank you for visiting the MINA site.