Harmony audit query AQ20001
Timeliness of 49 CFR 579 Reporting (EWR). NHTSA’s Office of Defects Investigation opened this audit query about the child seat. Opened Jul 20, 2020, closed Jan 16, 2025 after 4.5 years without a recall. closed
What NHTSA says
Source: Office of Defects Investigation, as filedOn July 20, 2020, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) opened an Audit Query (AQ) to investigate Harmony Juvenile Products’ (Harmony) reporting of death and injury claims and foreign recalls under 49 CFR Part 579. NHTSA’s investigation was prompted by a fatal incident involving child restraints manufactured by both Harmony and another manufacturer for which NHTSA received death and injury reports from the involved vehicle manufacturer and the other child restraint manufacturer.  NHTSA did not receive a report from Harmony until after NHTSA contacted the company. NHTSA was also aware of foreign recalls of Harmony products that NHTSA believed may have been substantially similar to products sold in the United States but were not reported to the Agency. In response to NHTSA’s information request issued during this investigation, Harmony asserted that because of the unique requirements for service of process for foreign entities (Harmony is located in Canada) and the limited information available to the company, Harmony did not have enough information regarding the fatal incident to submit a report to NHTSA under Part 579 until after Harmony was contacted by NHTSA. Harmony also responded that there were no foreign recalls involving substantially similar products that Harmony did not report to NHTSA. After NHTSA opened this AQ, Harmony improved its processes for compliance with Part 579 by taking the following actions: (1) formalizing its previously unwritten procedures for reviewing communications to help ensure that future communications would be reported to NHTSA pursuant to 49 CFR 579.5; (2) auditing customer contracts to determine whether any may have met the reporting requirements for consumer complaints under 49 CFR 579.25(c); (3) auditing its records to see whether there were analyses of field incidents that meet the definition of a “field report,� which Harmony is required to report to NHTSA; and (4) reviewing charge-back information provided by U.S. retailers to determine whether Harmony had any information that would qualify as a paid warranty claim, which Harmony is required to report to NHTSA. In May 2022, Harmony stopped selling child restraints in the U.S. However, in July 2024, Harmony notified NHTSA that the company had re-entered the U.S. market during the second quarter of 2024 and that it conducted internal training about the early warning reporting requirements for manufacturers of child restraint systems in in 49 CFR 579.25. Given the information obtained through the investigation and Harmony’s compliance efforts that are described above, continuing this investigation into Harmony is not warranted and this investigation is closed. The Agency will continue to monitor Harmony’s reporting pursuant to 49 CFR Part 579.  The Agency reserves the right to take further action if warranted by the circumstances.
A Audit Query is an audit of the manufacturer's own reporting obligations — early-warning data, recall notices, remedy — rather than of a vehicle condition. The summary is the agency’s own text from its investigation file, unedited; the opening and closing resumes with the full reasoning are on NHTSA’s site under this number.
What this means for an owner
Source: and what happens nextAn investigation is not a finding that a defect exists, and it puts no duty on anyone. NHTSA opens a Preliminary Evaluation when complaints and other reports suggest a condition worth asking the manufacturer about; it upgrades to an Engineering Analysis when the answers warrant testing; it closes either when it recommends a recall, when the manufacturer recalls on its own, or when no defect trend is found. The agency’s own goals are about four months for a petition, eight for a Preliminary Evaluation or a Recall Query and eighteen for an Engineering Analysis; many run longer.
This one is closed. A audit query ends with NHTSA’s finding on the recall it examined — the remedy stands, is widened, or a new campaign follows; the file names the recall it concerned and NHTSA’s closing resume carries the reasoning.
Model years it names
Source: as NHTSA filed themNHTSA filed this action against Harmony Juvenile Products without naming a model year — an equipment or manufacturer-level query.
Common questions
Source: NHTSA Office of Defects InvestigationIs AQ20001 a recall?
No. A audit query is NHTSA asking questions, not a recall. A safety recall carries an NHTSA campaign number and a duty to repair for free; this one closed without one. Whether one particular vehicle has an open recall is a VIN question at nhtsa.gov/recalls.
Is AQ20001 still open?
No. It closed on Jan 16, 2025 without a recall.
Which vehicles does AQ20001 cover?
NHTSA filed it against Harmony Juvenile Products without naming a model year.