[Avodah] Hechsher for Tevilas Kelim Exemptions

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

At several different housewares stores in Brooklyn and elsewhere, I have seen various items bearing labels attesting to the item not needing tevilas kelim, with the name or symbol of a prominent rav or organization. These items include things like metal soup pots, so we're not dealing with an exemption based on the type of utensil, or the material it is made of, but I suppose it is based on being made by a Jewish manufacturer.

What I do not understand is how this can be so. Even if it was manufactured by a Jewish factory, and is now sold by a Jewish retailer, wouldn't it become obligated in tevilah if it had been owned by a non-Jewish wholesaler? How can anyone know that the keli was continuously Jewish-owned?

The situation seems analogous to a hechsher attesting to a product being non- chometz she'avar alav hapesach. One could have such labels on the *store*, but not on a product. (Actually, I have seen such labels affixed by the manufacturer, but they specify that the flour used was not ground until after Pesach, so that the whole question doesn't arise; this is like certifying that a pot is patur from tevilah because it is really made of plastic.)

Can anyone suggest how this works?

Thanks
Akiva Miller
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