Arizona has joined a bipartisan coalition of 27 attorneys general, calling for Congress to protect farmers and other consumers by passing expansive Right-to-Repair legislation targeted at automobiles, agriculture equipment and digital electronic equipment.
According to the Arizona Attorney General’s Office (AGO), expansive Right-to-Repair legislation would ensure small businesses can remain competitive against closed systems favored by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). They claim it would also ensure farmers can repair agricultural equipment at a reasonable cost and consumers can repair electronics instead of replacing them, where that makes the most sense.
In a letter, the attorneys general explained that as vehicles, farm equipment and digital devices have become more technologically advanced, and OEMs often control access to electronic parts. This creates an unfair restraint of trade and a monopoly on repair, which directly affects consumers with increased prices.
The attorneys general encouraged Congress to consider three pieces of proposed legislation from the 117th Congress that were never passed, despite widespread public support for Right-to-Repair legislation:
The Fair Repair Act: Requires OEMs to make documentation, parts and tools available to independent repair providers and device owners to repair products, with exclusions for vehicles and medical devices.
The SMART Act: Limits liability for infringement of a design patent based on appearance for a part of a vehicle’s exterior, and creates a sunset provision on a design patent for an exterior component if an otherwise infringing part is used to repair a vehicle.
The REPAIR Act: Requires OEMs to provide a vehicle’s owner with data related to diagnostics, repair, calibration and service through a standardized access platform. The bill would also prevent OEMs from mandating specific brands of parts, tools and equipment be used on a vehicle, absent a recall.