The EU Commission needs to introduce a European regulator which would have power to audit the retail chain and determine whether there was a fair share of margins allocated to all parts of the chain, the ICSA has proposed.

The ICSA made the proposal at a meeting between the group and the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Phil Hogan in Brussels on Thursday. The group said there is a need for transparency around how the profits from key products like beef, lamb and dairy are shared between farmers, processors and retailers.

ICSA President Patrick Kent said it has provided "ample evidence" in the past 12 months that farmers are not getting a fair share of the final retail price. He said that ICSA believe that this must be the business of the EU Commission, "given that the success of the CAP is being undermined by farmers losing money in the marketplace".

According to Kent, Commissioner Hogan "accepts that there is a problem and acknowledges that ICSA has a point in calling for transparency around retail and processing margins"

The ICSA has proposed that where there is abuse of margins, the Commission-appointed regulator should have the power to impose fines.

The ICSA delegation that met with Hogan also raised the issue of LPIS overclaim penalties and emphasised that the penalties were very unfair. “ICSA emphasised that these penalties were almost exclusively imposed on farmers on marginal land," Kent said. The problems around the hen harrier designation and the commonage GLAS plans were also raised with Commissioner Hogan.

Kent said that the meeting was useful and he looked forward to dialogue with the Commissioner and his team.