The State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA), in collaboration with the National Economic and Trade Commission, issued a circular urging the improvement of the tail gas exhaust and noise pollution of farm transport vehicles. As they are mostly emitting pollutants excessive of the state-prescribed standards and contribute equally to air pollution, it has become a pressing issue to control pollution by farm vehicles.

The agricultural transport vehicles that are in use in China are generally driven by diesel engines and emit pollutants twice as much as the diesel trucks. China produces 2.8 million such farm vehicles in 2001, 88% of which were fixed with single-cylinder diesel engines, a worse polluter.

By the end of 2001, there were 22 million such farm vehicles in use and 80% were single-cylinder diesel engine-driven. The monitoring data over the last three years show that well over 60% of the single-cylinder diesel engine-driven three-wheeled vehicles and 30% of multi-cylinder diesel engine-driven four-wheel farm vehicles discharge tail gas far exceeding the state-prescribed standards.

The circular stipulates that the farm transport vehicles that are to be produced must be up to the state-prescribed standards for tail gas emission and noise limit. Those that fail to meet the demand will not be allowed to come to the road as of July 1, 2002. Any new model to be produced will have to pass through environmental examinations and licensed by SEPA.

All the single-cylinder diesel engines must be fixed with fuel oil control devices and meet the state-prescribed standards for smoke, noise and tail gas emission. Those without the fuel oil control devices will not be allowed to be in use as of August 1.

The manufacturers that select sub-standard parts and cause excessive pollutant emission will be held responsible. Those vehicles that still discharge excessive pollutants after repair will be forced to be eliminated. The Economic and Trade Commission has listed the farm transport vehicles without fuel oil control devices as backward products to be eliminated.

(www.cenews.com.cn July 8, 2002)