MEI
MEI has requested a component non-availability waiver for the the MEI BNR3-XX, BNR4-XX, and BNR5-XX Bank Note Recycler products, manufactured in Switzerland for use in ticket vending machines. The BNR, or Bank Note Recycler, can accept and validate bank notes and pay them back out as change. The significant characteristic of these units is their ability to identify, validate and accept multiple bank note denominations (US $1, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100) utilizing all-optical recognition. This feature allows for the acceptance of bank notes in a face-up or facedown orientation creating a more user-friendly man-machine interface. In addition the unit has a multiple-note escrow function (up to 15 bank notes) that enables return of the customer’s inserted bank notes in situations where the transaction is not complete, or presentation of bank notes being paid back as change in one bundle. The BNR performs this operation though a single hole in the Ticket Vending Machine (TVM) cabinet. MEI asserts that the BNR3-XX, BNR4-XX, and BNR5-XX Bank Note Recycler products, or their functional equivalent, are not available from a U.S. source. If granted, this waiver would permit ticket vending machine manufacturers to install the BNR3-XX, BNR4-XX, and BNR5-XX Bank Note Recycler products and count them as domestic for purposes of complying with FTA’s Buy America requirements of 49 CFR part 661.
Please note “MEI Bank Note Recycler” in the subject line and submit commits by close of business June 6, 2008, to Jayme L. Blakesley at 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE, Washington, DC 20590, jayme.blakesley@dot.gov, or by fax at (202) 366-3809. For more information on Buy America, please see 49 CFR part 661.
