MoT view on raising emission standards for scooters from 2027

Particularly, according to Decision No.19/2024/QD-TTg dated November 15, 2024 of the Prime Minister stipulating the roadmap for applying emission standards for imported and manufactured and assembled motor vehicles, from July 1, 2026, the emission standards for imported and manufactured and assembled two-wheeled motorbikes will be officially raised from Level 3 to Level 4.

Two-wheeled scooters of under 50 cc will apply Level 4 emission standards from 2027 Photo: Vneconomy

Accordingly, the current low emission standards such as the Level 2 emission standard for two-wheeled scooters under 50 cubic capacity (50cc) need a roadmap to be raised to Level 4 to be on par with other kinds of two-wheeled motorcycles of bigger capacity, creating momentum to promote green energy conversion in transport.

The Ministry of Transport (MoT) said that since 2021, the ministry has been researching and developing a roadmap to apply Euro 4 emission standards for motorbikes and scooters in Vietnam. The results show that raising the emission standards for imported motorbikes and locally manufactured and assembled motorbikes to Level 4 is feasible and manufacturing, assembling and importing enterprises are also ready for the conversion from Level 3 to Level 4.

According to the research, the Level 4 emission standards applied to motorbikes will reduce 50% - 60% of toxic gas emissions from the vehicles, having significant effects on air environment protection amid the current annual growth rate of about 3 million vehicles/year.

In the ASEAN region, most ASEAN countries have applied or have a roadmap to apply Euro 4 emission standards (Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore are applying Euro 4; while Indonesia and the Philippines plan to apply Euro 4 in 2025 and 2027 respectively).

“The Vietnam Association of Motorcycle Manufacturers (VAMM) has proposed that the MoT develop a roadmap early to raise the emission standards for imported motorcycles and manufactured and assembled motorcycles to level 4 to keep up with other countries in the region,” the ministry emphasized.

Unlike two-wheeled motorbikes from 50cc upwards, from July 1, 2027, imported and manufactured and assembled two-wheeled scooters of under 50 cc will officially apply Level 4 emission standards instead of Level 2 as today.

According to the MoT, two-wheeled scooters of under 50 cc are very easy to use, as they do not require a driver’s license, However, they also have potential risks of unsafe use, so in the long term, it is necessary to strengthen management and limit the increase of this type of vehicle.

Currently, the emission standards for two-wheeled scooters of under 50cc are still low; therefore, in order to implement the direction of the Prime Minister, the Party’s policies and the State’s laws on environmental protection, it is necessary to set a roadmap to end the application of Level 2 emission standards and raise them to Level 4 emission standards to synchronize with two-wheeled motorbikes of bigger capacity, thereby, creating motivation to promote the conversion of green energy in transportation.

However, since the direct conversion from Level 2 emission standards to Level 4 emission standards is more difficult (skipping Level 3), on the other hand, most of the enterprises manufacturing and assembling two-wheeled scooters of under 50cc are small domestic enterprises with limited investment and technology capacity, the MoT proposed to extend the time to apply Level 4 emission standards for two-wheeled scooters of under 50cc to be longer than that for bigger two-wheeled motorbikes applied from July 1, 2027.

“Therefore, to provide more time to enterprises for the conversion and adaptation, the roadmap for two-wheeled scooters of under 50cc is one year longer than that for the bigger motorbikes (applied from July 1, 2027) is suitable,” the MoT emphasized.