REGISTERED IMPORTER NEWSLETTER No. 36

National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance

September 15, 2008

MAINTENANCE OF RI REGISTRATION

This is your reminder that it is time to submit the information required to permit you to continue to be a registered importer (RI) for fiscal year (FY) 2009, which begins on October 1, 2008. The information specified below should be submitted as soon as possible, but no later than September 30, 2008, for your company to remain in active status as an RI. Failure to submit the renewal information by that date will cause your registration to be automatically suspended effective October 10, 2008, as provided in 49 CFR 592.7(a)(1). Because there are delays in our receipt of materials sent by regular mail, we recommend that you send this information by an overnight express carrier to:

Office of Vehicle Safety Compliance
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
West Building - 4^th Floor - NVS-223, Room W43-481
Washington, DC 20590
Attn: RI Renewal

REQUIRED INFORMATION

1. The statements required by 49 CFR 592.5, affirming the correctness of all information provided in your application for RI status, any supplemental information provided after the 2004 amendments to the RI regulations, or any written notice of a change in the information on file with the agency, (See Attachment 1)
2. A current business interest statement, (See Attachment 2)
3. The addresses of all of your company’s facilities used for:
1. vehicle modification,
2. vehicle storage,
3. record storage, and
4. receipt of mail (See Attachment 3).
4. A Prepaid Mandatory Service Insurance Policy covering recall obligations for FY 2009 with notarized signatures, and
5. Changes in any of the information submitted in your company’s prior applications for RI status or renewal requests that have not been previously reported to NHTSA. (See Attachment 4)

FEES

For Fiscal Years 2007 and 2008, the fee for renewing an RI registration was $570. On August 4, 2008, the agency published (at 73 FR 45195) a notice of proposed rulemaking to adjust this and other fees associated with the RI program for Fiscal Years 2009 (beginning on October 1, 2008) and 2010. As proposed, the adjusted fee for renewing an RI registration would be $651. No comments were received in response to the notice of proposed rulemaking. The agency is in the process of issuing a final rule to adopt the fees as proposed. When that rule is issued, we will notify all RIs who have submitted the required information specified above to submit a certified check for the amount of the renewal fee made payable to the Treasurer of the United States, or authorization to charge that amount if the RI is approved for credit card use. Failure to pay the renewal fee by the date specified in that notice may result in the automatic suspension of the RI’s registration.

Attachment 1

YEARLY STATEMENT OF REGISTERED IMPORTER
[SAMPLE LETTER]

September [27], 2008

Administrator
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
U.S. Department of Transportation
1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.
West Building - 4^th Floor - NVS-223, Room W43-105
Washington, D.C. 20590

Re: YEARLY STATEMENT OF REGISTERED IMPORTER

Dear Sir or Madam:

This is to affirm that all information that [Smith Imports, Inc.] submitted to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) pursuant to 49 CFR 592.5 (a)(4), (a)(5), (a)(6), (a)(9), and (a)(11) remains correct.

A copy of the mandatory service insurance policy that we have acquired pursuant to 49 CFR 592.5(a)(8) to cover recall obligations that we may incur in fiscal year (FY) 2009 is enclosed, with signatures properly notarized. Also enclosed is a copy of our current business interest statement [see Attachment 2], as well as a list of the current addresses for each of our mailing, vehicle modification, record storage, and vehicle storage facilities [see Attachment 3].

[Insert whichever of the following statements is appropriate]:

There are no changes to the information we have previously submitted. [or] 

We have included changes to our information on file with NHTSA [see Attachment 4].

Sincerely,

________________________              _____________________
Mr. Jack Smith, President                        Date
Smith Imports, Inc.

________________________              _____________________
Notary                                                         Date

Enclosures:

___ 1. Check or authorization to charge credit card ___ 2. Business interest statement ___ 3. Addresses of facilities ___ 4. Mandatory Service Insurance Policy ___ 5. Changes to information on file

Attachment 2

REGISTERED IMPORTER BUSINESS INTEREST STATEMENT
(Enclosure 2)

Registered Importer Name: ____________________________________

1. I am willing to bring into conformity with the FMVSS vehicles that:

____ were manufactured for sale in Canada.
____ were manufactured for sale in all other countries.

____ have been assigned an eligibility number.
____ have not been issued an eligibility number and must be petitioned.

The Independent Commercial Importer (ICI) that I am associated with is
____________________________. That company has the following address and telephone number:

(Check Statement No. 2 or No. 3, but not both).

2. ____ I am not willing to accept compliance certification contracts for individual owners.
3.  ____ I am willing to accept compliance certification contracts for individual owners of the following types of vehicles, when those vehicles are determined to be eligible for importation pursuant to 49 CFR Part 593:

_____ Passenger Cars
_____ Multipurpose Passenger Vehicles
_____ Light Duty Trucks (GVWR 10,000 lb or less)
_____ Heavy Trucks & Tractors (GVWR over 10,000 lb)
_____ Trailers
_____ Buses
_____ Motorcycles/Motor Driven Cycles

Signature: _____________________________________

Date: ________________

Title: ________________________________

Attachment 3

FACILITY LOCATIONS AND CONTACTS (Enclosure 3) [SAMPLE]
NAME OF REGISTERED IMPORTER:	Smith Imports, Inc.
OWNER/PRESIDENT:	Mr. Jack Smith
MAILING ADDRESS:	1955 Apple Towers, Suite 56 New York, NY 10600
CONTACT/PHONE/FAX #:	Mr. Jack Smith/Phone: 212-676-3300/FAX: 676-3344
***EMAIL ADDRESS:	smithimports@aol.com
RECORD STORAGE	Same as above
ADDRESS:	__________________________________________
CONTACT/PHONE/FAX #:	__________________________________________
MODIFICATION FACILITY	1177 Market Street
ADDRESS	New York, NY 10600
CONTACT/PHONE/FAX #:	Mr. Joe Kelly/Phone: 212-676-3222/FAX: 212-676-3001
VEHICLE STORAGE	Same as Modification Facility
FACILITY ADDRESS:	__________________________________________
CONTACT/PHONE/FAX #:	__________________________________________
(If Applicable) ADDITIONAL STORAGE	__________________________________________
FACILITY ADDRESS:	__________________________________________
CONTACT/PHONE/FAX #:	__________________________________________

*** The Email address listed above will be used by NHTSA to send ALL DOT correspondence to the Registered Importer including releases, monthly invoices, recall notification, RI newsletters, etc.

Attachment 4

CHANGES TO INFORMATION ON FILE

If your RI business information has changed since last year and you have not notified NHTSA in writing of those changes, you may apply for RI registration renewal as explained above, but you must also provide the corrected information.

You must identify, by date and page, the information in last year’s submission that is to be corrected, briefly describe that information, and clearly state how that information is to be corrected. Where required, supporting documentation must accompany the corrected information (e.g., copy of a new deed or lease, still photographs of a new facility, etc.).

CHANGES TO INFORMATION (Enclosure 5) [SAMPLE]
NAME OF REGISTERED IMPORTER:	SMITH IMPORTS, INC.
1) LAST YEAR’S RENEWAL -- DATE, PAGE & DESCRIPTION	9/27/07, PAGE 3, FACILITY LOCATION: 1955 APPLE TOWERS, SUITE 56 NEW YORK, NY 10600
CHANGE TO:	1955 APPLE TOWERS, SUITE 44 NEW YORK, NY 10600
REASON:	MOVED TO ANOTHER BUILDING SUITE
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:	SEE NEW LEASE AND PHOTOS
2) LAST YEAR’S RENEWAL -- DATE, PAGE & DESCRIPTION	9/27/07, PAGE 3, FAX: 212-676-3344
CHANGE TO:	FAX: 212-676-3300
REASON:	NEW EXCHANGE FROM TELCO
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION:
3) LAST YEAR’S RENEWAL -- DATE, PAGE & DESCRIPTION
CHANGE TO:
REASON:
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION: