Motor vehicle recall is a post-market safety management system for motor vehicle products, China implemented the defective vehicle products recall management system in 2004. In recent years, the number and quantity of recalls have steadily increased, and effective supervision and evaluation of the implementation of recalls by producers have become an urgent problem for regulators.
GB/T 41047-2021 Technical requirements for traceability system of the recall process of motor vehicle products is the first technical standard on information monitoring and supervision of the recall process in China, it regulates general technical requirements, core metadata, data synchronization, data sharing, and system performance and safety requirements of the traceability system.
The main contents of the standard include:
- Recall implementation process: The regulation Provisions on the Administration of Motor Vehicle Emissions Recalls and mandatory national standard GB 38900-2020 Items and methods for safety technology inspection of motor vehicles clarify the relevant requirements such as inspection of the completion of vehicle recalls during the annual motor vehicle inspection process. This requires the market supervision department to share recall data with the vehicle annual inspection system of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment and the Ministry of Public Security, therefore, propose to establish a traceability system of the recall process of motor vehicle products.
- The overall structure of traceability system. The motor vehicle product recall process traceability system consists of three parts: the enterprise subsystem, the management subsystem, and the server subsystem, which are used by the vehicle product manufacturer, the industry authority, and the departments to be shared the data, respectively.
- Traceability system function requirements
- Enterprise subsystem: The traceability system enterprise subsystem is connected with the quality management system of the producer via a data interface. Dealers’ information management system is recommended to apply a B/S structure to achieve real-time monitoring and collection of the dealer’s and maintenance provider’s recall process. Recall process information will be reviewed according to the technical requirement in the standard, validating the accuracy of the recall process information. This information includes whether the vehicle VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) is correct, whether the replaced parts are correct, whether the recall measures meet the requirements, etc. For recall process information after the review, regular, automatic uploading to the recall process management subsystem via the data interface is necessary.
- Management subsystem: The traceability system management subsystem should obtain real-time recall process information from the enterprise subsystem and exchange data with the product recall information management system to achieve a connection between recall registration information and recall process information, and therefore obtain real-time information on the completion of the recall process. To ensure the synchronization of the data, the management subsystem conducts dynamic monitoring on the data interface with the enterprise subsystem and alerts for anomalies.
- Service subsystem: The traceability system service subsystem provides a VIN-based vehicle recall information searching service which includes searching recall registration and recall process information. The traceability system service subsystem can send vehicle recall information to relevant parties to allow them to obtain real-time recall information.
- Data collection requirements. Recall process information synchronized by the enterprise subsystem to the management subsystem shall include:
- Recall serial numbers shall be unique, which are provided in GB/T 39061, to determine the recall practice that the synchronized recall information belongs to.
- The VIN of a recalled vehicle shall conform to the requirements in GB 16735 and GB 16737. VIN is the only vehicle identity information used to identify any recalled vehicles.
- The date that the dealers complete the recall.
- The repair record number of recalled vehicles at the dealership.
- The name of the dealer performing the recall of the defective vehicle product.
- Contact information of the recipient of the recall notice: The recipient of the recall notice may be the owner of the vehicle or other vehicle users, if the vehicle is still at the dealership, the recipient can be the person responsible for the recall at the dealership.
- After the implementation of the recall, a dealer should submit vehicle recall process information to their producer and complete the recall process information collection and review before 24:00 of the next day. Meanwhile, after completion of the vehicle recall, the producer should synchronize recall process information to the traceability management subsystem via the recall system enterprise subsystem.
GB/T 41047-2021 has come into force on 1 April 2022. Based on this standard, the State Administration for Market Regulation Defective Product Administrative Centre (hereinafter, referred to as the “Center”) established the “national vehicle recall process traceability system” and organised pilot applications with enterprises including FAW-Volkswagen and GAC-Toyota. The pilot project realized rapid collection of recall process information.
Meanwhile, based on the annual inspection requirements stipulated by the Regulations on the Administration of Motor Vehicle Emission Recalls and Items and methods for safety technology inspection of motor vehicles, and as recall process traceability systems are widely applied in the industry, the Centre is planning to share recall information with annual vehicle inspection bodies, as well as to regularly send vehicle recall information to their annual vehicle inspection systems. This would notify them of the vehicles that are in the recall scope but haven’t been recalled. The Centre is also seeking to share information with insurance institutions to notify them of the vehicles that failed to be recalled.
