Vietnam’s difficulty in adopting advanced emission standards due to low quality fuels and technological hurdles poses serious threats to its environment as well as auto industry, a conference warned Tuesday.

At the conference, hosted by Thanh Nien, delegates agreed Vietnam’s inability to enforce globally approved exhaust restrictions was causing serious air pollution. "A car with a non-Euro approved engine releases some 0.5 kg exhaust," they said.

Hoang Hai Van, Thanh Nien’s deputy chief managing editor, pointed out it was also acting as a drag on the country’s fledgling auto industry.

Euro 2 emission standards for both diesel and gasoline vehicles were set to take effect in July next year but they failed to match developed country standards, he said.

Many countries had adopted the Euro 4 standard and would move on to the Euro 5 version by 2010 at the latest, he added.

The criteria, introduced by The European Commission, require all new engine designs sold within the EU emit lower levels of nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.

"With the adoption of the Euro 2 limits, even foreign-invested auto firms in Vietnam would have great difficulty in selling their products abroad in the years to come," Van warned.

Second rate fuel

Dr Quan Thang, vice CEO of Toyota Vietnam, said the low quality and incompatibility of imported fuel had partly prevented local auto makers from applying advanced exhaust benchmarks.

The dangerously high contents of sulfur, metals, and even additives in fuel magnified the exhaust volume and toxicity, he said.

Agreeing, Nguyen Minh Dong, an authority on German-made autos, said Vietnam’s imported fuels were of much poorer quality than in the US though their prices were almost the same.

"Why don’t we import right now petrol of better quality to run Euro 4-approved engines?" he asked.

Pham Trung Dung, safety and environment specialist at Ford Vietnam Co., said his company was keen to adopt higher emission standards in line with global benchmarks. "But the fuel quality must improve. Improvements on fuel quality would significantly help."

A long way ahead

However, Cao Xuan Vinh, head of the transport ministry’s Environment Office, said it would take time to adopt the latest emission standards.

"We’re readying for the Euro 2 limits and will move on to Euro 4 later, skipping the Euro 3 version," he said.

Tran Ba Minh of the Ministry of Science and Technology agreed saying Euro 4 was not immediately adoptable due to technological barriers like filters besides the poor and incompatible fuels.

Bui Ngoc Huyen, CEO of Xuan Kien automobile company, which makes trucks and buses, said: "Adopting Euro 4 right now would hurt business," pointing out vehicles equipped with Euro 4-standard filters would cost an extra US$4,000-5,000.

"That explains why most foreign auto makers choose not to adopt the advanced emission standards in Vietnam though it’s within their reach."

"Adopting Euro 4 is impossible right now," Huyen said, adding other Southeast Asian countries, even developed ones like Singapore, were still using Euro 2.

Source: http://www.thanhniennews.com/others/?catid=13&newsid=13763