He said among the practical effects of seal removal would be concealment of the fact that a car has undergone a repair and that the part replaced is one that is CAPA certified rather than one produced by the manufacturer of the vehicle.

CAPA seals cannot be transferred for use on different parts because they are produced so that they will split when an attempt is made to dislodge them and the adhesive does not work, Mr. Gillis said.

The seal, he said, is critical to identifying and tracking CAPA parts in the marketplace and in the CAPA part database.

CAPA President Bob Anderson of Anderson's Automotive Service said, "The CAPA seal gives all parties the ability to clearly identify parts which meet CAPA standards. We see no reason why a repairer would remove a seal and thereby prevent clear identification of the part."

To become certified, CAPA parts are checked for fit, finish, weld integrity and other factors.

Parts usage has been a controversial issue for insurers since a $1.2 billion award against State Farm in 1999 followed a jury finding that the insurer violated the Illinois Consumer Fraud Act by deceiving policyholders and repairing damaged vehicles with inferior replacement parts and failing to advise them that original equipment manufacturer parts were not being used.

According to CAPA, parts that it certifies are often superior to OEM parts.

CAPA said its Quality Seal comes with a special tab that repairers can remove to confirm to both their customer and the insurer that a CAPA part was used. Both the removable tab and permanent seal have the same unique number that can easily be used to identify the manufacturer, lot and type of part.

CAPA said this tab numbering system allows the repairer to keep a record in their files of parts used while keeping the seal on the part.

CAPA said any issues with a particular lot or part can be analyzed and addressed by both the manufacturer and CAPA. The database is online at www.CAPAcertified.org.

Mr. Gillis said CAPA recently found a part which it investigated was missing its seal. He said it had been removed from a hood that was used by a dealer who replaced a truck hood that flew off a car.

Normally CAPA will not vouch for a part that does not bear its seal, but Mr. Gillis said there were other marks that indicated it was a CAPA part. He said CAPA in that case decertified the part even thought the seal was missing.