VN to conduct motorbike exhaust test
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Exhaust fume gauging will be required for motorbikes 15 years or older in Vietnam’s five big cities for the first time starting on July 1, 2018, if a newly proposed plan by the Transport Ministry is approved.
The cities are Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Danang and Can Tho.
After July 1, 2018, testing will be mandatory for 10 and five-year-old vehicles every two years at a cost of 100,000 dong (Bt155.7) to 150,000 dong.
In 2010, then prime minister Nguyen Tan Dung gave the green light for developing a project on limiting motorbike exhaust levels in an attempt to reduce air pollution, but it was not implemented, the Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper reported.
But since then, Vietnam Register said air pollution had become more serious in big cities.
The latest national environment report revealed that 70-90 per cent of urban air pollution was caused by traffic, of which motorbikes are the major element.
According to the Traffic Police Department, 49 million engine-driven vehicles had been registered nationwide by the end of last year, with motorbikes making up 95 per cent or 46.5 million.
Motorbikes number 12 million in Hanoi and HCM City alone.
Tuoi tre reported that in these two cities, the emissions of hydrocarbon, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides from motorbikes account for 94 per cent, 87 per cent and 57 per cent of the total amount emitted by engine-driven vehicles.
The proposed roadmap suggests three schemes, including exhaust fume gauging for motorbikes of 175cc capacity and more, which will be conducted at automobile registration centres starting on July 1, 2018.
Motorbikes with less than 175cc will be checked after July 2020.
Some 23 million motorbikes five years or older will have gone through exhaust fume checks by 2025.
Motorbikes that pass the check will be provided with a stamp of approval while those failing to meet exhaust fume standards will have to be repaired and re-tested.
Those failing to check their exhausts will be subjected to fines.
A Vietnam Register official told Tuoi tre that the Road Traffic Law only stipulates testing for passenger cars and trucks, which has been quite effective in controlling their exhaust fumes, but there was nothing in place to monitor motorbikes.
To ensure sufficient technical facilities, Vietnam Register proposed that motorbike manufacturers and importers provide maintenance and repair services for vehicles failing exhaust fume inspections, besides regular services.
Some suggested that the inspection fees should be taken from the environment tax levied on vehicle petrol.
