Regulation
The Regulation on the Storage, Collection and Exchange of Bottled Liquefied Petroleum Gas (Regulamento relativo ao Processo de Armazenagem, Recolha e Troca de Garrafas de Gás de Petróleo Liquefeito - RTGPL) approved by ERSE is intended to:
- Foster competition in the supply of bottled liquefied petroleum gases (LPG)
- Safeguard the technical and economic efficiency of LPG bottle storage, collection and exchange procedures, seeking to mitigate costs involved in this activity
- Ensure that LPG bottles can be traced, avoiding their loss or the creation of an alternative market for used LPG bottles
- Encourage fair commercial practices
This regulation focuses particularly on the LPG sector and introduces a bottle exchange mechanism, which establishes:
- The procedures relating to the selection and identification of LPG bottle storage facilities that support the activity’s underlying logistics
- The procedures for collection and removal of LPG bottles from the identified GPL bottle storage facilities, in particular the amounts above which owners are required to remove bottles from storage facilities and related deadlines
- The general procedures applicable to the storage of LPG bottles in identified storage facilities, in order to minimise transportation costs and collection times
- The inventory obligations on stakeholders in the distribution/marketing logistic chains of bottled LPG
- Protocols for the exchange of information between stakeholders
- Information provision obligations
In compliance with Decree-Law No 5/2018, of 2 February, ERSE promoted Public Consultation No 76 and approved Regulation No 737/2019, of 23 September. ERSE makes available the List of identified LPG Bottle Storage Facilities, pursuant to paragraph 11 of article 6 of RTGPL.
