The Ministry of Transport has implemented a series of measures to control the emission of pollutants from motor vehicles. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) - The Ministry of Transport has implemented a series of measures to control the emission of pollutants from motor vehicles, Head of the ministry’s Department of Environment, Tran Anh Duong, has said.

Cars and motorcycles are among major sources of emissions such as carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxide, particle pollution, and toxins in fuel, such as benzene. These cause air pollution, especially urban air pollution, directly affecting people’s health.

The ministry has developed policies to synchronously control emissions by vehicles, from managing production and assembling or importing new vehicles to tightening control of emissions by vehicles on the road, contributing significantly to improving air quality, Duong said.

Euro 3 exhaust emission standards have been applied on two-wheeled motorcycles since January 1, 2017, while cars using petrol and other fuels, excluding diesel, applied Euro 4 standards.

From January 1, 2018, diesel vehicles were required to follow Euro 4 standards, while new assembled or imported cars were requested to follow Euro 5 standards from January 1, 2022.

Among other ASEAN countries, only Singapore has applied Euro 6 emission standards, since 2017.

Thailand previously launched a roadmap to apply Euro 5 standards from 2022, while Indonesia planned to apply the standards from 2023. However, in reports released at a recent regional conference on the harmonisation of vehicle emission standards, the two countries delayed their roadmap to apply Euro 5 and have not announced when further consideration will be given.

Vietnam’s decision to apply Euro 5 emission standards from January 1, 2022 demonstrates the Government’s determination to cut emissions of atmospheric pollutants, thus protecting the environment and people’s health.

Under Prime Ministerial Directive No 03/CT-TTg dated January 18, 2021 on enhancing air pollution control, the Ministry of Transport is requested to urgently develop a national programme to develop means of environmentally-friendly transport and public transport.

The 🎃PM asked for more communication activities to encourage people to use public transport and means of environmentally-friendly transport, and to promote the implementation of the roadmap for the application of the national technical regulation on the environment related to emissions from transport./.