The Ministry of Transport has just issued a document responding to the petition of voters in Ho Chi Minh City requesting a solution to handle vehicles that do not meet emission standards.

From January 1, 2025, no emission testing for all motorbikes

Voters in Ho Chi Minh City believe that the inspection of motorbike emissions will result in many cases that do not meet standards and will not be allowed to continue circulating.

Therefore, voters recommend that the Ministry have a plan to deal with vehicles that do not meet emission standards and support people in difficult circumstances due to lack of means of transportation.

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Hanoi has about 6 million motorbikes, of which nearly 3 million are old motorbikes manufactured before 2000. Photo: Nam Khanh

In response, the Ministry of Transport said that the inspection of motorbike and scooter emissions is carried out in accordance with the Law on Environmental Protection (LEP) and the Law on Road Traffic Order and Safety (TTATGTDB).

Article 42 of the Law on Road Traffic Safety stipulates: “Motorcycles and motorbikes are only subject to emission inspection. Emission inspection is carried out in accordance with the provisions of the law on environmental protection and is carried out at emission inspection facilities that meet national technical regulations.”

In addition, Article 65 of the Law on Environmental Protection stipulates: "Means of transport must be inspected and certified by the inspection agency to meet environmental technical standards...".

At the same time, in Article 102, the Law on Road Traffic Safety also assigned the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to preside over and coordinate with the Ministry of Transport to submit to the Prime Minister a roadmap for applying national technical standards and regulations on emissions of road motor vehicles circulating in Vietnam.

Thus, motorbikes and scooters in circulation are not required to have their emissions inspected from January 1, 2025, when the Law on Road Traffic Safety comes into effect.

Regarding the proposed plan to handle substandard vehicles and support people in difficult circumstances due to lack of means of transport, the Ministry of Transport said that the roadmap is being chaired by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, in coordination with relevant ministries and branches, to research and develop.

“Voters’ recommendations will be one of the important contents in the process of researching and assessing policy impacts; the draft roadmap will be consulted with people, businesses and affected subjects before being submitted to the Prime Minister for consideration and promulgation,” informed the Ministry of Transport.

Regarding voters' recommendations, the Ministry of Transport has sent a document to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and will closely coordinate in the process of studying and assessing policy impacts to propose solutions for handling substandard vehicles. At the same time, there will be a plan to support people in difficult circumstances due to substandard vehicles without means of transportation to minimize the impact on their lives and ensure the harmony of interests of the people and the community.

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From January 1, 2025, emission testing will not be performed on all motorbikes. Photo: Hoang Hiep

Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City lead in number of motorbikes

According to the 2016 national environmental status report, emissions from motor vehicles are the main cause of environmental pollution, of which motorbikes and scooters are the largest source of pollutant emissions.

According to the Ministry of Transport, by the end of 2021, the country had more than 68 million motorbikes. Hanoi alone had about 6 million vehicles, including nearly 3 million old motorbikes manufactured before 2000. Ho Chi Minh City had about more than 9 million motorbikes.

According to the calculation of the project "Research on the current emission status of motorbikes in circulation towards controlling emissions, contributing to improving the air environment", vehicle users who perform periodic maintenance according to the manufacturer's recommendations can control emissions well, reducing vehicle fuel consumption by 7%.

The leader of the Vietnam Register said that currently, newly imported and assembled motorbikes are being controlled for emissions, only old vehicles on the road are not yet controlled.

In the future, the authorities can consider that new vehicles will not be inspected immediately, but will only be inspected after 2-3 years. For vehicles that have been used for many years, the authorities can calculate and study the appropriate time for inspection.

The head of the Registration Department said that the emission testing fee will be insignificant and the emission testing is very simple, only taking a few minutes, so it will not cause much disruption to people and society.