Intervention stores were cleared of SMP by April 2006 and of butter by the end of July 2007. Market commentators think that the disappearance of intervention stocks has resulted in the markets for both butter and SMP becoming more volatile.

Butter can be taken off the market under PSA (Private Storage Aid, where butter is put into storage and released during the winter). By the end of the 2008 PSA scheme 151,000t had been offered for storage, 32,000t more than last year (provisional figures). PSA butter has been available for sale from 16 August 2008.

In the UK during 2006, 3,503t of butter were sold into intervention, with the last sales in May of that year, but no SMP was sold into intervention (either in the UK or in the rest of the EU). In 2007, only 437t of butter were offered into intervention, none in the UK.