FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          AT
FRIDAY, MAY 30, 1997                               (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888
                                 
   JUSTICE DEPARTMENT APPROVES PROPOSAL BY ESCALATOR INDUSTRY
              TO DEVELOP IMPROVED SAFETY STANDARDS


     Washington, D.C. -- The Department of Justice today approved
a proposal by the National Elevator Industry Inc., a trade
association of escalator manufacturers and installers, to try to
develop an improved escalator safety standard.

     The Department said that National Elevator's efforts to
develop a new escalator safety standard would not harm
competition in the industry because competitively sensitive
information would not be exchanged, and other parties not
affiliated with the association would be allowed to participate
in the standard making process.

     Some escalator accidents result from the victim catching a
foot or article of clothing between the escalator step tread and
the adjacent step skirt panel.  In response to concern raised by
the United States Consumer Product Safety Commission and others
about such accidents, National Elevator will work with an
independent consultant to develop a more comprehensive escalator
safety standard to reduce the incidence of escalator accidents.

     If satisfied with the newly-developed safety standard,
National Elevator would submit it to the American Society of
Mechanical Engineers to be reviewed and adopted as part of their
safety code for escalators.  All interested parties may comment
on the Society's standard making procedures.

     Joel I. Klein, Acting Assistant Attorney General in charge
of the Department's Antitrust Division said that since "NEII's
proposed joint venture to establish a new escalator performance
safety standard will neither involve the exchange of any
competitively significant information nor be designed to
disadvantage non-members, it should not, in itself, raise
competitive concerns."

     The Department's position was stated in a business review
letter from Klein to counsel for National Elevator Industry Inc. 

     Under the Department's Business Review Procedure, an
organization may submit a proposed action to the Antitrust
Division and receive a statement as to whether the Division will
challenge the action under the antitrust laws.

     A file containing the business review request and the
Department's response may be examined in the Legal Procedure Unit
of the Antitrust Division, Suite 215, Liberty Place, 325 7th
Street, N.W., Department of Justice, Washington, D.C. 20004. 
After a 30-day period, the documents supporting the business
review will be added to the file.
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