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15 U.S.C. § 5401

Section 5401 · Findings

Current version, with additions and removals from the March 7, 1996 version.

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Current — June 8, 1999
As of March 7, 1996
(a) Findings

The Congress finds that—

The Congress finds that—

(1) the United States fastener industry is a significant contributor to the global economy, employing thousands of workers in hundreds of communities;

(1) the American economy uses billions of fasteners each year;
(2) the American economy uses billions of fasteners each year;

(2) millions of mismarked, substandard, counterfeit, and other nonconforming fasteners have been sold in commerce to end-users in the United States, and their use has dramatically increased the risk of equipment and infrastructure failures;

(3) both the military and civilian sectors of the economy have encountered unnecessary, unwarranted, and dangerous equipment and construction failures, as well as extraordinary expenses, as a result of the use of nonconforming fasteners;

(4) the purchase and use of nonconforming fasteners stem from material misrepresentations about such fasteners made by certain manufacturers, importers, and distributors engaged in commerce;

(3) state-of-the-art manufacturing and improved quality assurance systems have dramatically improved fastener quality, so virtually all fasteners sold in commerce meet or exceed the consensus standards for the uses to which they are applied;

(4) a small number of mismarked, misrepresented, and counterfeit fasteners do enter commerce in the United States; and

(5) current fastener standards of measurement evaluate bolts and other fasteners according to multiple criteria, including strength, hardness, and composition, and provide grade identification markings on fasteners to make the characteristics of individual fasteners clear to purchasers and users;
(5) multiple criteria for the identification of fasteners exist, including grade identification markings and manufacturer's insignia, to enable purchasers and users of fasteners to accurately evaluate the characteristics of individual fasteners.

(6) current tests required by consensus standards, designed to ensure that fasteners are of standard measure, are adequate and appropriate for use as standards in a program of high-strength fastener testing;

(7) the lack of traceability of fasteners sold in commerce is a serious impediment to effective quality control efforts; and

(8) the health and safety of Americans is threatened by the widespread sale in commerce of mismarked, substandard, and counterfeit fasteners, a practice which also harms American manufacturers, importers, and distributors of safe and conforming fasteners, and workers in the American fastener industry.

(b) Purpose

In order to protect public safety, to deter the introduction of nonconforming fasteners into commerce, to improve the traceability of fasteners in commerce, and generally to provide commercial and governmental customers with greater assurance that fasteners meet stated specifications, it is the purpose of this chapter to create procedures for the testing, certification, and distribution of certain fasteners used in commerce within the United States.

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