According to statistics from the Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers, there are currently about 74 million motorbikes in circulation nationwide. Of these, the proportion of motorbikes over 5 years old is estimated at about 56 million. In Hanoi, the number of motorbikes is about 7 million, not including the number of motorbikes from other provinces participating in traffic in the capital. Half of them are old motorbikes, manufactured before 2000.

Mr. Nguyen To An, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Register, said that motorbikes emit 80-90% of CO, HC, and 50% of NOx in the total emissions of motor vehicles. These pollutants have a great impact on the quality of the environment and urban air and are one of the direct causes of harm to people's health.

A random emission test in 2021 of more than 5,200 vehicles over 5 years old showed that these vehicles tend to emit emissions exceeding the permitted limits. Specifically, the rate of vehicles not meeting Vietnam's level 1 standards is more than 54% and level 2 is over 60% (according to national standard TCVN 6438:2018).

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Should we start testing motorbike emissions in big cities?

Based on this data, the Ministry of Transport recently issued Circular 47 stipulating that: motorbikes and scooters under 5 years old are exempt from emission inspection; vehicles from 5 to 12 years old must be inspected every 2 years, vehicles over 12 years old must be inspected annually.

Expressing agreement with this inspection cycle, speaking with VietNamNet, Dr. Khuong Kim Tao, former Deputy Chief of Office of the National Traffic Safety Committee, said that inspection of motorbike emissions is necessary to achieve the goal of converting the use of fossil fuels to green, clean energy.

“With the cost of a one-time motorbike emission inspection as previously calculated by the Ministry of Transport (about 50,000 VND/vehicle/time), I think it is not much. For vehicles from 5-12 years old, which are only performed once every 2 years, this cost is not large.

Not to mention, with a 2-year cycle, the damage within the threshold will be handled by the vehicle owner. However, if there are variables (in this case, emissions) exceeding the threshold, the inspection process will also help the vehicle owner have a plan for replacement and maintenance. Therefore, I think the 2-year cycle/inspection for motorbikes over 5 years old is reasonable," Mr. Tao expressed.

Mr. Nguyen Van Cuong (Cau Giay, Hanoi) also said that if a motorbike is 5 years old and is used frequently, it will quickly deteriorate. At that time, just by looking through the exhaust pipe with the naked eye, you can see how much toxic gas is emitted into the environment. Therefore, the sooner the emission inspection is done, the better.

At the same time, Mr. Cuong proposed to study a more suitable inspection cycle. For example, cars 5-7 years old should be inspected every 24 months. Cars 7-10 years old should be inspected every 12 months. Cars over 10 years old should be inspected every 6 months.

Should it be done first in big cities?

Faced with the large number of motorbikes, while the Vietnam Register is planning to build a network of motorbike inspection stations, many opinions suggest that this should be implemented first in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City - where there is a large volume of motorbikes participating in traffic.

However, Mr. Tao believes that controlling emissions needs to be done on a national scale. “The same motorbike can be in Tuyen Quang today but tomorrow it will be in Hanoi. So if motorbike emissions are not controlled nationwide, it will cause difficulties for the authorities and will not achieve the goal of limiting environmental pollution,” Mr. Tao said.

To gain consensus from the people, Mr. Tao said that in parallel with controlling motorbike emissions, management agencies need to have measures to support people in repairing and overcoming technical problems when vehicles do not meet emission standards.

Because currently, the users of old motorbikes are mainly workers. Therefore, it is possible to consider supporting the cost for people to repair or switch to electric motorbikes if they meet certain requirements. At the same time, the State also considers promoting investment in the public transport system, aiming at the use of green vehicles, reducing the use of personal vehicles, especially motorbikes in big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.