Gov’t updates vehicle emissions to an obsolete 15-year-old norm

The government has published a new standard table and method for measuring the pollutants coming from the exhaust of gasoline-powered vehicles in the government Official Gazette (BO) yesterday.
According to the dispatch of the Chief Executive Order No. 131/2020, published in the BO, as well as with a statement issued by the Environmental Protection Bureau (DSPA), the new standards are compliant with the Chinese National Norm GB18285-2005. This norm establishes limits and measurement methods for exhaust pollutants from vehicles equipped with an ignition engine under two-speed idle conditions, and simple driving mode conditions.
This norm, dated from 2005, has been long-
considered obsolete by the mainland authorities who issued a replacement one in 2018, in which the standards regarding the pollutants have been updated with added restrictions (GB18285-2018).
In the statement from DSPA, the bureau says that the enforcement of the new rules seeks to “continue to improve the air quality of Macau, to reduce pollutant exhaust gas emissions from vehicles and to encourage vehicle owners to carry out periodic maintenance and repair of their vehicles, as well as to carry out the work outlined in the Five-year Development Plan of the Macau Special Administrative Region (2016-2020) and the government’s Policy Address for 2020.”
The new standards now published will enter into force from July 1 this year. RM