The Ministry of Transport’s Registration Department will launch the nation’s first vehicle emission testing centre later this month.

Motorbikes used for over 10 years to be inspected for exhaust

The Hanoi-based centre will help Vietnam inspect motor vehicles according to European standards before launching them on the market.

The centre, worth about 10 million euros (US$14 million) and built with development assistance from Austria, is equipped with three imported emission checking systems capable of testing 300 motorbikes and 200 automobiles a year.

The centre’s director, Pham Quang Thanh, said the Government enforced Euro No2 emission standards for all new petrol-driven imported and locally manufactured vehicles from 2007.

However, no centres could do this, so enterprises had to get tests done in foreign countries.

"It usually takes a lot of time and money due to the additional costs of temporary import for re-export motorbikes and high checking costs," Thanh said.

He said procedures at the centre could reduce the cost of outside tests by up to seven times, adding the centre was capable of checking Euro No5 emission standards, the most strict requirements that set specific limits on pollutants that can be released into the environment.

Thanh said the low costs would attract both domestic and regional enterprises.

Vietnam has about 25 million motor vehicles, one for about every two adults.