[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 157 (Tuesday, August 13, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 42004-42005]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-20560]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
National Institute of Standards and Technology
[Docket No. 960709188-6188-01]
RIN 0693-XX20


National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System Evaluation 
(NVCASE) Program

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, (NIST) 
Commerce.

ACTION: Notice; request for public comment.

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SUMMARY: This is to advise the public that the National Institute of 
Standards and Technology (NIST) received a letter dated May 3, 1996 
from the PFS/TECO Corporation requesting the development of a new 
program under the National Voluntary Conformity Assessment System 
Evaluation (NVCASE) Program to evaluate and accredit third party 
product certification bodies which inspect and certify structural use 
panels and engineered wood products. The proposed program would provide 
a domestic alternative to similar programs currently operated by the 
Japanese and Canadian Governments and would allow testing and 
certification performed in the United States to be accepted by those 
countries on an equal basis as if performed in either of those 
countries.

DATES: Comments on this request must be received by October 28, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be submitted in writing to Robert L. 
Gladhill, NVCASE Program Manager, NIST, Bldg. 820, Room 282, 
Gaithersburg, MD 20899, by fax at 301-963-2871, or email 
[email protected].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Robert L. Gladhill, NVCASE Program Manager, at NIST, Bldg 820, Room 
282, Gaithersburg, MD 20899, by telephone at 301-975-4029, by fax at 
301-963-2871 or by email at [email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The NVCASE procedures at 15 CFR Part 286 
require NIST to seek public consultation when it receives such 
requests. This program involves a collection of information subject to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act. This collection is approved by the Office 
of Management

[[Page 42005]]

and Budget under OMB Control No. 0693-0019.
    The text of the request follows:

May 3, 1996, PFS/TECO Corporation, 2402 Daniels Street, Madison, WI 
53704

    Dr. Manager, NVCASE Program: Please accept this formal request 
from PFS/TECO Corporation for NVCASE to develop a specific 
evaluation program for third party quality assurance certification 
agencies involved in the inspection and certification agencies 
involved in the inspection and certification of structural use 
panels (plywood and oriented strand board) and engineered wood 
panels, structural glued laminated timber, prefabricated wood I-
joists, composite structural lumber, sandwich panels either rigid or 
foam), particleboard and construction adhesives used in these 
products.
    Using the NIST outline for submitting this request, the 
following is the background information that should assist NIST in 
moving ahead with this application.

Foreign Requirements

    PFS/TECO Corporation is applying to NIST for development of a 
NVCASE program in the above wood products area in response to 
programs currently run by the Japanese Government and the Canadian 
Government that currently allow for, or will soon allow for, the 
mutual recognition of a NVCASE certified third party quality 
assurance certification and inspection agency.
    The Japanese program for the wood products and components listed 
above is under the direction of the Japanese Agricultural Service 
(JAS) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries 
(MAFF). Dr. Belinda Collins of NIST made a recent presentation to 
JAS and MAFF at a Tokyo meeting in which she described the 
capability of NVCASE to certify United States third party quality 
assurance certification and inspection agencies. This was done to 
pave the way for JAS/MAFF to recognize NVCASE certified third party 
agencies.
    This application is a follow-up to that presentation in that 
PFS/TECO has already obtained the first private sector Foreign 
Testing Organization (FTO) recognition granted by JAS for plywood, 
OSB and engineered wood products. This was done at great expense 
(over $500,000) and three years of arduous effort. It would be 
beneficial to PFS/TECO to receive NVCASE recognition acceptable to 
JAS/MAFF in lieu of the continuing costly trips to Tokyo and costly 
audits with Japanese staff coming to the United States to maintain 
the current JAS FTO recognition. The audit and maintenance of a 
NVCASE recognition would be within the continental United States at 
greatly reduced expense to PFS/TECO when contrasted to current JAS/
FTO approval maintenance costs.
    The Canadian program is run by the Standards Council of Canada 
(SCC) under the SCC ``Criteria and Procedures for Accreditation of 
Certification Organizations''. The existing North American Trade 
Agreement (NAFTA) allows for mutual recognition by Canada and the 
United States of each other country's certified third party testing 
laboratories and third party quality assurance certification and 
inspection organizations.
    PFS/TECO was able to successfully become certified via NIST's 
NVLAP program for its wood products testing laboratories which had 
led to its mutual acceptance in Canada for wood products testing 
purposes. However, with no existing parallel NVCASE program, PFS/
TECO is currently undergoing a difficult, time consuming application 
with the SCC in Canada with an estimate time for completion of up to 
two years and at a cost of several hundred thousand dollars. 
Meanwhile, existing Canadian third party wood product quality 
assurance inspection and certification agencies with their prior SCC 
approval (obtained years ago as a requirement within Canada) are 
readily accepted here in the United States under NAFTA. The quick 
development of the NVCASE program for wood products based third 
party certification and inspection agencies would put PFS/TECO back 
on a ``level playing field'' at, again, a greatly reduced cost and 
at a faster turn-around compared to the deliberate, slow pace of the 
Canadian SCC approval process.

Industry Sector

    As stated in our opening paragraph, the industry sector is wood 
panels, engineered wood components and related wood based structural 
products and adhesives. These include:

Plywood--Currently certified to NIST/DOC Standard PS1-95
Oriented Strand Board (OSB)--Currently certified to NIST/DOC 
Standard PS 2-92
Structural Use Panels--Either PS 1 or PS 2 certified

    Additionally, all of the following industry sector are certified 
to a wide range of ASTM and ANSI standards and/or PS 2:

Wood Composite Panels
Structural Glued Laminated Timber
Prefabricated Wood I-Joists
Composite Structural Lumber
Sandwich Panels (Rigid or Foam)
Particleboard
Construction adhesives--used in all of the above products

Program Area

    The program area would cover product certification only. The 
testing laboratory portion is already covered by NVLAP and PFS/TECO 
is certified as a testing laboratory for all of the above wood 
products or adhesives under NVLAP.

Level of Recognition

    The program would involve direct accreditation by NVCASE as the 
NAFTA agreement allows reciprocal recognition by Canada by NVCASE 
certified third party certification and inspection agencies. PFS/
TECO believes that NIST, via Dr. Belinda Collins, is negotiating 
similar reciprocal recognition of NVCASE by JAS/MAFF for use in the 
Japanese market segment that PFS/TECO currently serves via its own 
FTO certification and engineered wood certification by JAS/MAFF.

Recommended Criteria/Technical Requirements

    The recommended criteria would include PS 1-95 and PS 2-92 
issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce coupled with a wide range 
of ASTM and ANSI standards dealing with the various physical 
property testing or measurement approaches for plywood, OSB, and 
their related engineered wood components. Please refer to PFS/TECO's 
NVLAP accreditation of file at NIST which details the over 50 ASTM 
and ANSI standards involved in these various wood products and 
components.

Rationale

    Covered in the above discussion are the difficulties, costs and 
extensive time involved in directly achieving recognition by the 
JAS/MAFF for Japan and the SCC for Canada. That alone should suffice 
as the justifying rationale for a NVCASE program as Canada via NAFTA 
already recognized NVCASE certified third parties and NIST appears 
to be successfully negotiating NVCASE recognition with JAS/MAFF in 
Japan.
    Both Canada and Japan do not recognize other private sector 
accreditation approaches or non-Federal government approaches for 
third party quality assurance inspection and certification agencies 
such as via the model building codes, or via various state 
governments. Japan and Canada will only accept, at this time, a 
Federal government program such as NVCASE in that it parallels their 
own national, centralized governmental approach to certification of 
third party organizations.
    If this NVCASE program were to move ahead, PFS/TECO believes 
that it would ease or further ease market access for the large 
segments of the U.S. plywood and OSB industry into Japan or into 
Canada. PFS/TECO is aware of approximately ten other U.S. private 
sector third party quality assurance inspection and certification 
agencies that would benefit by and would probably participate in 
this NVCASE program if it were developed into fruition.
    After review of the above, please advise what NIST's opinion and 
response is. If there are any questions or if I can provide 
additional details, please contact me directly.
      Sincerely,
Michael J. Slifka, P.E.,
Executive Vice President.


    Interested parties should respond in writing to the above address. 
All comments submitted will become part of the public record and will 
be available for inspection and copying at the U.S. Department of 
Commerce Central Reference and Records and Inspection Facility, Room 
6020, Herbert C. Hoover Building, 14th and Constitution Avenue, 
Washington, DC 20230.


    Dated: August 6, 1996.
Samuel Kramer,
Associate Director.
[FR Doc. 96-20560 Filed 8-12-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3510-13-M