Accordingly, the approved roadmap for motor vehicle emission inspection will apply level 2 emission standards to newly imported and manufactured and assembled two-wheeled motorbikes (motorbikes) from January 1, 2025 to June 30, 2027, instead of the previous proposal of applying from January 1, 2025 to December 31, 2025.
In addition, newly imported and manufactured and assembled motorbikes will also be subject to level 4 emission standards from July 1, 2027. This roadmap has been extended compared to the previous proposal of applying level 4 emission standards from January 1, 2026.
Upon hearing the news, Mr. Nhat Hoang - Owner of a motorbike maintenance and repair shop located on Cau Giay Street, Hanoi said that extending the time to apply emission inspection levels for motorbikes will help repair and maintenance facilities have more time to prepare facilities, meeting the inspection and replacement needs of the people.
"Currently, many imported motorbikes use limited edition exhaust pipes, connectors, engines, etc. from abroad. Therefore, repair and maintenance will take more time waiting for replacement parts to be imported.
In addition, to apply high emission standards to motorbikes, repair and maintenance facilities also need to have specialized emission measuring devices that meet standards - equipment that not all repair facilities have. Therefore, the longer the time to apply emission standards, the more time maintenance facilities have to prepare best, limiting the situation of overloading and congestion of vehicles for many days without being able to repair" - Mr. Hoang informed.
Regarding this issue, Dr. Phan Le Binh - a traffic expert of the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), a lecturer at the Vietnam - Japan University, said that postponing the application of level 4 emission standards for motorbikes will create conditions to help people easily adapt and switch vehicles.
"If the level 4 emission standard is applied from 2026 as previously proposed by the Ministry of Public Security, it could cause a lot of disruption for people. Applying the emission standard from level 2 to level 4 will lead to many motorbikes being unable to meet the requirements immediately because not all types of vehicles can pass the inspection after a long period of use.
Furthermore, applying the level 4 emission standard just 1 year after the level 2 inspection is too hasty. This causes many people to replace and maintain their vehicles to meet the level 2 emission inspection standard, and then have to spend more money to inspect the level 4" - Mr. Binh shared.
JICA's transport expert also said that during the implementation of the level 2 emission standard inspection, agencies can monitor and rebalance the time frame for applying higher emission levels appropriately. "People's interests should be put first instead of creating more economic pressure on workers," said Mr. Binh.
Dr. Phan Le Binh also suggested that if high standards for emission testing are applied, authorities need to add accompanying support policies, such as old vehicle recall programs or financial support for those who want to switch to environmentally friendly vehicles.
