---
kind: "section"
citation: "49 U.S.C. § 30120A"
title: "49"
title_heading: "Transportation"
number: "30120A"
heading: "Recall obligations and bankruptcy of a manufacturer"
release: "119-102"
date: "2026-07-12"
url: "https://uscodex.org/usc/49/30120A"
units:
  - "Subtitle VI — Motor Vehicle and Driver Programs"
  - "Part A — General"
  - "Chapter 301 — Motor Vehicle Safety"
  - "Subchapter II — Standards and Compliance"
---

# §30120A. Recall obligations and bankruptcy of a manufacturer


A [manufacturer](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-6)’s filing of a petition in bankruptcy under [chapter 7](/usc/49/chstI/ch7.md) or [chapter 11](/usc/11/chch11.md) of title 11 does not negate the [manufacturer](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-6)’s duty to comply with [section 30112](/usc/49/30112.md) or sections [30115](/usc/49/30115.md) through [30120](/usc/49/30120.md) of this title. In any bankruptcy proceeding, the [manufacturer](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-6)’s obligations under such sections shall be treated as a claim of the [United States](/usc/49/31301.md?p=15) Government against such [manufacturer](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-6), subject to subchapter II of [chapter 37](/usc/31/chstIII/ch37.md) of title 31, United States Code, and given priority pursuant to section 3713(a)(1)(A) of such chapter, notwithstanding section 3713(a)(2), to ensure that consumers are adequately protected from any safety [defect](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-3) or noncompliance determined to exist in the [manufacturer](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-6)’s products. This section shall apply equally to actions of a [manufacturer](/usc/49/30102.md?p=a-6) taken before or after the filing of a petition in bankruptcy.


## Source credit

(Added Pub. L. 112–141, div. C, title I, § 31312(a), July 6, 2012, 126 Stat. 772; amended Pub. L. 114–94, div. B, title XXIV, § 24106, Dec. 4, 2015, 129 Stat. 1705.)

## Notes

### Editorial Notes

### Amendments

2015—Pub. L. 114–94 substituted “chapter 7 or chapter 11 of title 11” for “chapter 11 of title 11,”.

### Statutory Notes and Related Subsidiaries

### Effective Date

Section effective Oct. 1, 2012, see section 3(a) of Pub. L. 112–141, set out as an Effective and Termination Dates of 2012 Amendment note under section 101 of Title 23, Highways.