Speaking with DairyReporter.com, a spokesperson for the Norwegian dairy giant said it does not expect the country to be plagued a by butter shortage this Christmas.
In 2012, Oslo-based TINE called on the Norwegian Agricultural Agency (Landbruksdirektoratet) to reduce customs duties on butter imports to avoid a potential December shortage.
TINE told DairyReporter.com at the time that it knew "from experience that butter sales increase before Christmas" and it wanted the "opportunity to import more butter if needed."
It made a near identical request to Landbruksdirektoratet in 2011.
This year, however, no such request has been made, the company said.
“You’re absolutely right about our actions towards the Norwegian government concerning butter earlier,” said a TINE spokesperson.
“This year, on the other hand, we have not called on [the] Norwegian Agricultural Agency (NAA) to reduce custom duties on butter imports."
“A shortage is not likely this year," the TINE spokesperson added.
The one-year Russian on agricultural food imports from the European Union (EU), US, Australia, Canada and Norway had no impact, TINE said when pressed.
“The Russian embargo did not have any effect on our supply of butter, as we don’t export any butter to Russia."