NSF International filed papers on March 21 to
dismiss its
lawsuit against the Certified Automotive Parts
Association (CAPA) and its Executive Director Jack Gillis. The lawsuit was filed in response to CAPA and Gillis’ “open letter”
widely circulated on July 28, 2010. In the settlement
agreement, CAPA and Gillis agreed not to, either orally or in
writing, make false and defamatory statements of fact about
NSF.
NSF believes the record has been sufficiently cleared that
continued litigation would be a distraction from NSF’s real
work in testing and certifying the quality and safety of
aftermarket automotive parts to ensure that high-quality
aftermarket safety parts are available, and thus would not be
in the best interest of the aftermarket parts industry or
consumers. Accordingly, rather than continue litigation, NSF
agreed to dismiss its case against CAPA and Gillis to focus on
continuing to grow its business and do what NSF does best
certify products to protect consumers.
NSF is putting this matter behind it and is focused on
continuing to grow its automotive parts certification
programs, including the Automotive Aftermarket Parts
Certification program, which NSF announced in February
2010.
“There should be no doubt in anyone’s mind that NSF
International is fully committed to supporting the automotive
aftermarket parts industry,” said Bob Frayer of NSF
International. “NSF will continue to test and certify the
quality and safety of aftermarket automotive parts to ensure
that high quality aftermarket safety parts are available to
vehicle owners and body shops, and it’s toward that goal that
our resources will be focused.”
Background on NSF’s Automotive Aftermarket Parts
Certification Program
For years NSF has provided certification services
to the automobile industry. Building on this long history of
automotive expertise, in early February 2010, NSF announced
its Automotive Aftermarket
Parts Certification Program.
The NSF Certification Program was developed to counter the
growing concerns that lower quality parts were being used in
the automotive repair industry. The program verifies both the
quality and performance of certain aftermarket auto parts via
testing and inspections.
PAGE 2
NSF International’s Automotive Aftermarket Parts Certification
Program tests and certifies reinforcement bars, steel bumpers,
step bumpers, brackets and absorbers against a rigorous set of
requirements developed by NSF in conjunction with industry
leaders.
Automotive parts certified by NSF are tested side by side with
original equipment (OE) and parts must demonstrate comparable
performance to OE parts to bear the NSF Mark. The NSF Mark has
67 years of experience in testing, certifying and writing
product standards behind it.
NSF Automotive Aftermarket Parts Certification Process
To verify that aftermarket parts bearing the NSF Mark meet all
quality, safety and performance standards and are comparable
to the OE part, NSF requires the following:
- On-site inspection and approval of the manufacturing
facilities’ production and quality system
- Rigorous part testing to ensure the highest levels of
performance and random, in-market part testing
- In-plant part quality assurance program
- A traceability requirement that allows for an
effective recall process
- An ongoing process for monitoring and taking action
regarding customer complaints
- Ongoing monitoring of certified parts through
quarterly facility audits
NSF Certified automotive parts are being embraced by
major part distributors and the list of NSF Certified parts
that are available continues to grow.
