A mechanic checks an automobile at Vietnam Register. Automobiles will have to meet new emissions standards from early January 2020.

Under a Government plan for emissions standards for road vehicles, all vehicles – locally manufactured, assembled automobiles or imported cars – must meet a higher standard from January 1, 2020.

It means the vehicles must have their carbon monoxide emissions ratio reduced from 4.5 (level 1) to 3.5 (level 2), and hydrocarbon concentration from 1,200ppm to 800ppm.

The move aimed to minimise increasing environmental pollution in the country, it said.

The Vietnam Register said it had completed software to assess the results of new emissions standards.

This software has been tested at a number of registration centres and would be completed and replicated nationwide before the deadline.

Figures from the Vietnam Register showed the number of cars on the road had reached more than 3.6 million as of November, contributing to a significant increase in urban air pollution.

Tran Anh Quan, acting chief of the Motor Vehicle Inspection Office at the Vietnam Register, told Tuổi Trẻ (Youth) newspaper that increasing emissions standards from level 1 to level 2 was not a giant leap.

"If the car owner performs regular maintenance in accordance with the manufacturer's instructions, their vehicles will meet the new emissions standards,” he said.

According to Quan, most of the 2.4 million vehicles produced since 2008 would have no problem with the new standards. For trucks and passenger cars used frequently, the owners needed to make sure their vehicles are regularly serviced to meet the new standard. VNS

HCM City needs new policy to reduce air pollution

Experts think that HCM City authorities need to apply a special policy under Resolution 54 to amend existing policies to better manage quality of the air.

Making public transportation affordable and easy to improve air quality

One of the best solutions to keep the sky blue and lungs clean is reducing emissions from vehicles by encouraging people to use mass transit, which is cheap and easy.