NEWS: New bill in US Congress would allow for turnkey replicas

[cycleguy55]

Here's the response I received yesterday from Transport Canada, in response to my letter to the Minister:

I am responding to your correspondence of June 12, 2015, to the Honourable Lisa Raitt, Minister of Transport, regarding a U.S. Congressional Bill entitled "Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act of 2015" that would allow limited production of turn-key replica cars. The Minister of Transport has asked me to reply on her behalf.

Under the Motor Vehicle Safety Act<http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/M-10.01/> (MVSA), Transport Canada develops and enforces the Motor Vehicle Safety Regulations (MVSR). The MVSA requires that each vehicle manufactured for sale in Canada or imported into Canada must be certified to comply with all applicable safety standards in effect at the time of main assembly. The MVSR are mostly performance-based, rather than design-specific, and provide basic safety requirements for vehicles and specific vehicle equipment.

As explained in our previous correspondence on the issue of kit cars, it is important to note that Canadian safety regulations allow the importation of most vehicles 15-years-old and older that do not conform to the MVSR. This allowance is less restrictive than its U.S. counterpart, for which the limit is set at 25 years. Canadian car enthusiasts and collectors of U.S., Japanese or European heritage vehicles are allowed to import vintage vehicles without hindrance.

The proposed U.S. Congressional Bill, if passed, would require the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) to establish a regulatory structure allowing production of replica cars. The Bill is not specific as to which vehicle safety requirements would have to be modified or eliminated to allow replica cars to enter the U.S. market.

Please be assured that Transport Canada is continuing to work closely with the NHTSA and has developed a joint Regulatory Cooperation Council work plan, which is available at RCC Motor Vehicles Working Group: Existing and New Motor Vehicle Safety Standards Work Plans - Transport Canada. I would also like to assure you that, should this Bill be passed and new U.S. regulations initiated, Transport Canada would review and consider adopting those regulations appropriate for Canada.

Thank you again for writing and for sharing your views.

Sincerely,

Jason Kelly for/

Kim Benjamin
Director General,
Motor Vehicle Safety

While there is verbiage indicating Transport Canada is monitoring U.S. legislation, there is no commitment to create parallel or comparable legislation in Canada, notwithstanding supposed efforts to harmonize regulations and legislation. Phrases like "those regulations appropriate for Canada" leave me highly doubtful we'll see any significant loosening of the current regulations.