Vietnam will start checking the exhaust emissions of motorbikes in the central city of Danang in 2018 and in other major cities two years later, according to a draft regulation submitted by the Vietnam Register (VR) to the Ministry of Transport.
As of the end of 2014, Vietnam had a total of 45 million vehicles, with motorbikes accounting for 95% of this number.
The five biggest cities of Hanoi and Hai Phong in the north, Da Nang in the central region, and Ho Chi Minh City and Can Tho in the south had 13.5 million motorbikes by the end of last year, making up a third of the total nationwide, according to the VR.
Checks on automobiles in Vietnam started in 2008.
The country had planned to begin checking CO2 emissions from motorbikes in 2010 in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, but this was delayed.
The VR suggested starting to gauge emissions from motorbikes used for over ten years in Da Nang on July 1, 2018, while motorbikes used for over five years in the city will go through emission checks from July 1, 2019.
The checks in the four remaining cities will start on July 1, 2020.
Vehicles that pass the checks will be granted a stamp and are eligible to be used on streets.
Nguyen Huu Tri, the VR’s vice chief, said vehicle manufacturers recommend a technical inspection every six months, but the VR proposed conducting emission checks on motorbikes every two years.
After that, the period will be shortened to once a year, Tri said.
The VR will coordinate with authorized dealers of motorbike manufacturers to carry out the checks on exhaust emissions.
The five biggest motorbike manufacturers in Vietnam include Yamaha, Honda, Piaggio, Suzuki, and SYM, which have over 1,500 dealers nationwide.
Tri said the five big cities have 529 dealers which are able to check CO2 emissions for 8.75 million motorbikes a year.
The cost for an emission check on each motorbike is estimated at VND100,000-150,000 (US$4.6-6.9), according to the VR.
Da Nang was selected as the starting point of the program because of its suitable population size and so lessons can be learned before the checks are extended to other localities.
The city has about one million residents with 713,000 motorbikes.
