Day 068 - 16 Dec 94 - Page 61
1 MR. MORRIS: Sorry, I apologise, Q. If we go to Q, Mexico, they
2 say at that time not what you just said; they say actually
3 they do import raw material and other -- sorry, they import
4 products from the USA. So how does that explain what you
5 have previously said?
6 A. OK, at that time you could import boneless meat. You
7 cannot import boning meat. You could not import finished
8 patties.
9
10 Q. So they were importing boning meat or boned meat but not
11 finished products?
12 A. As I said before, you could not import boning from the
13 US into Mexico at that particular time.
14
15 Q. What is "boning", sorry?
16 A. That it contains bone, like a carcass.
17
18 Q. So it would be deboned that would be imported?
19 A. That is correct.
20
21 Q. Could Mexico export deboned beef to the USA at that time?
22 A. Mexico as a country?
23
24 Q. Yes.
25 A. Yes.
26
27 Q. They could?
28 A. They could.
29
30 Q. I thought you said before they could not do that until the
31 NAFTA agreement?
32 A. That was live cattle, if I remember correctly, we were
33 talking about -- let me think about it. It would be
34 covered -- NAFTA was approved by different, by the
35 countries, the one country and then it had to be
36 reconfirmed by the Congress and, just like you see now with
37 GATT. So at this time it was the result of NAFTA.
38
39 Q. I thought NAFTA was brought in on 1st January this year?
40 A. That was the final approval. A lot of modifications
41 were made prior to that so that it would not have an
42 immediate effect on both economies. For example, the
43 border for the first time before NAFTA, before NAFTA said
44 we have an agreement it needs to be confirmed and ratified,
45 but when those decisions were made the borders were opened,
46 you could not import any type of beef into Mexico. When
47 NAFTA was agreed, before it was ratified, the importation
48 duties went from 20 per cent to nothing. NAFTA took a long
49 time to finally be approved and ratified by all the
50 legal -----
51
52 Q. So, in other words, in Mexico they were buying beef that
53 had extra import duties at that time from the USA even
54 though they have a thriving cattle industry in Mexico?
55 A. At that time, and I do not see the specific, hold on,
56 1992 -----
57
58 MR. JUSTICE BELL: 3rd December 1992.
59 A. At that time you could import, the border was open, and
60 they say, "You can import now because of NAFTA, but it will
