3/23/2009
HEADLINES
FIEG: Pull Mismarked Thailand Grade 5 Bolts
Customs Official Details Grade 5 Investigative Process
U.S. Customs official Kevin McCann said an official government response to allegations of mismarked fasteners and other imports varies widely.
Reached by GFN, McCann declined to comment on Customs’ ongoing investigation of reportedly mismarked Grade 5 cap screws manufactured by Tycoons.
However, McCann, part of the commercial targeting division at the Office of International Trade, specified a range of outcomes for trade misconduct.
Customs officials review new allegations within a day to determine if there is any truth to the claim.
Customs’ trade office operates under a framework of priority issues: textiles, which generate more than 40% of the duties collected by Customs; antidumping and countervailing issues; agriculture; import safety (Certain fastener issues [involving public safety] can fall into this category, McCann explained); and intellectual property rights.
Once an allegation has been certified for further information, Customs assigns international trade specialists to gather information on the claim. These specialists can email a port to dispatch local import officials to visit the importer named in the allegations and view records or inspect inventory.
In rare cases, the information discovered by this examination can be forwarded to criminal investigators for possible charges. Customs also has the authority to stop suspect shipments on the water.
But the vast majority of cases are dealt with through financial penalties issued by Customs.
“Only those companies who violated import rules will be notified of our determination.”
The Fastener Industry Education Group warned distributors to immediately quarantine mismarked Grade 5 cap screws from Thailand as the U.S. Customs & Border Protection Agency continues its investigation (see FIN 3/2/09).
Field agents from Customs are probing allegations of imported Grade 5.2 cap screws incorrectly marked as Grade 5 cap screws.
During 2008 Tycoons Worldwide Group, using the head mark TY, shipped into the USA numerous orders of bolts identified as SAE J429 Grade 5 that do not conform to Grade 5 chemical requirements, the group explained.
In a bulletin entitled Mismarked Grade 5 Bolts, the FIEG – a joint effort by the Industrial Fasteners Institute and the National Fastener Distributors Association – advised distributors with the nonconforming fasteners to obtain legal counsel in order to determine whether or not to sell any more of these bolts.
In addition, the bulletin urged distributors to contact the supplier from whom the bolts were purchased to determine disposition of the remaining inventory.
The FIEG bulletin sought to ease industry concern over questions of performance related to the mismarked bolts. There have been no reported performance issues with the subject parts, the document stated. Grade 5 and Grade 5.2 have the same performance requirements. All indications are that the subject parts meet all Grade 5.2 physical requirements.
Customs is reportedly investigating the allegation that 10B21 steel was used and certified to. As stated in SAE J429, Grade 5 specifications require a medium carbon steel marked with a three-line sunburst evenly spaced on the bolt head. The Grade 5.2 is made of low carbon boron steel with a 3-line mark on one side of the bolt head.
SAE J429 requires a minimum of .28% carbon in Grade 5 product, while Grade 5.2 product under the spec calls for a minimum of .15% carbon and a maximum carbon content of .25%. Both Grade 5 and Grade 5.2 product have the same tensile strength requirements.
The nonconforming Grade 5.2 fasteners could give suppliers an estimated 10% to 18% cost advantage over Grade 5 cap screws that fully comply with the proper specification.
While the Fastener Quality Act does not apply to fasteners from accredited manufacturers such as Tycoons, a government probe could lead to Customs violation charges. In the past Customs has prosecuted sellers of misrepresented products under the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1125), which prohibits the sale of mismarked products in the U.S.
The FIEG bulletin listed other laws covering smuggling and making false statements that might be used to prosecute businesses that imported the product.
These statutes do not apply to users of the misrepresented products in question, the group emphasized. All fastener distributors who imported the subject bolts directly are considered the “importer and manufacturer of record” by U.S. Customs.
The FIEG advised all distributors to download a free copy of its white paper, The Proper Designation and Use of Standards by End-Users and Suppliers Is Critical to Fastener Quality, from indfast.org or nfdafastener.org.
Other suggestions include dedicating at least one staff person to learn the content of the most commonly used fastener standards and how fastener conformance is determined; and visiting suppliers to perform a quality system review.
Related Stories:
• Customs Official Details Grade 5 Investigative Process
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