SINGAPORE TIGHTENS SMOKE EMISSIONS LIMIT FOR FOREIGN DIESEL VEHICLES FROM APRIL 2026

By Nur Ashikin Abdul Aziz

SINGAPORE, July 1 (Bernama) -- Foreign-registered commercial diesel vehicles with smoke emissions of 50 Hartridge Smoke Units (HSU) or more will be turned back at land checkpoints and denied entry into Singapore beginning April 1, 2026.

The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the threshold of 50 HSU is consistent with the emission standards under the ASEAN Framework Agreement on the Facilitation of Goods in Transit.

“Six months prior to implementation, from Oct 1, 2025, to March 31, 2026, the NEA will issue advisories to foreign commercial diesel vehicles entering Singapore to remind them of the new (turnback) threshold and implementation date,” the agency said in a statement on Monday.

NEA said currently, if the smoke emissions of a local or foreign commercial diesel vehicle is tested and found to exceed 40 HSU, the motorist is issued a composition fine while a foreign commercial diesel vehicle with 60 HSU or more will be turned back at land checkpoints and not allowed to enter the country.

Meanwhile, foreign-registered motorcycles registered in their home country before July 1, 2003, will not be allowed on Singapore’s roads from July 1, 2028, to comply with the republic’s in-use emission standards.

This is an extension to a previously announced regulation in April 2018 that involves local motorcycles as these older motorcycles are generally more pollutive than motorcycles complying with the newer Euro emissions standards. 

Non-compliant motorists are liable on first conviction to a fine of up to S$2,000 (RM6,960) under the Environmental Protection and Management (Vehicular Emissions) Regulations.

NEA said it takes a firm stance against non-compliance with Singapore’s stipulated emissions standards to safeguard the air quality in the country.

-- BERNAMA