Article 19 Managing cross-border trade restrictions due to differences in odourisation practices

Where a restriction to cross-border trade due to differences in odourisation practices cannot be avoided by the concerned transmission system operators and is recognised by F1the national regulatory authority, F2the national regulatory authority may require the concerned transmission system operators to F3endeavour to reach an agreement within six months, which may include swapping and flow commitments, to solve any restriction recognised. The concerned F4adjacent TSOs shall provide F5the national regulatory authority with the agreement for approval.

Where no agreement can be reached between the concerned transmission system operators after the six-month period referred to in paragraph 1 or where the F6national regulatory authority considers that the proposed agreement by the concerned F7adjacent TSOs is not sufficiently effective to remove the restriction, the concerned transmission system operators, in cooperation F8with the national regulatory authority, shall, within the following 12 months, define a detailed plan setting out the most cost effective method to remove a recognised restriction at the specific cross-border interconnection point.

For the purpose of fulfilling the obligations under paragraph 2, the concerned transmission system operators shall in sequence:

F11If a solution is approved by the F12national regulatory authority, that solution shall be implemented in accordance with the timeframe provided for in point (e).

If the F13national regulatory authority does not approve any solution submitted under point (e) of paragraph 3 within six months from its submission or if the concerned transmission system operators fail to propose a solution within the 12 months' framework of paragraph 2, F14the concerned transmission system operators shall endeavour to implement a shift towards the cross-border physical flow of non-odourised gas F15... within a time-frame approved F16by the national regulatory authority, but not exceeding four years. After a full technical shift towards non-odourised gas, transmission system operators shall accept technically unavoidable levels of successively reducing residual amounts of odourants in cross-border flows.

In performing their functions set out in this Article, the concerned transmission system operators must endeavour to cooperate with the concerned non-UK TSOs.

Before determining whether to grant approval under paragraphs (1), (3) or (4) of this Article, the national regulatory authority must endeavour to cooperate with the concerned non-UK regulatory authorities with a view to reaching a joint decision.

If both national regulatory authorities are concerned, they must cooperate with each other, and references in paragraphs 1, 2, 3, 4 and 6 to “the national regulatory authority” are to be read as references to “the national regulatory authorities”.