Day 285 - 23 Oct 96 - Page 18
1 from Costa Rica, Guatemala or Brazil to McDonald's
2 elsewhere. I know you say it is sufficient if it is
3 exported to any one, because --
4
5 MR. MORRIS: Yes
6
7 MR. JUSTICE BELL: -- of the hamburg connection, but at the
8 moment, as I understand it, the point you are on is export
9 to McDonald's elsewhere. If you have got some evidence of
10 that, for instance the 83 tons or however much it was to
11 the UK, or the Civil Evidence Act statements in
12 Jungleburger, then I understand you can say that is not
13 gainsaid by the existence of a policy, because the policy
14 is worthless. But the worthlessness of the policy, if
15 that is a good point, cannot prove that there were other
16 exports somewhere which you do not have at least some
17 prima facie evidence of, can it?
18
19 MR. MORRIS: Well, I would argue that because Dr. Gonzalez
20 accepted that there was in fact no policy effectively on,
21 for example, Brazilian beef being exported for McDonald's
22 use elsewhere and that the only examples we have found are
23 entirely by chance, such as the UK example or out of the
24 direct personal knowledge of Dr. Gonzalez, who has only
25 been employed for four years or something at McDonald's,
26 and I apologise if I have that timescale wrong --
27
28 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do not worry. I am interested on the point
29 of principle.
30
31 MR. MORRIS: It is certain as night follows day, inevitable
32 that Brazilian beef was exported and used by McDonald's
33 outside of Brazil in the past, because we would say the
34 policy is either so contradictory or so worthless as not
35 to offer any protection whatsoever.
36
37 If I can add to that, and that would go for Costa Rica and
38 Guatemala as well, although I think the case on Costa Rica
39 is particularly strong because they are a major -- we have
40 heard a lot of detail about their export capability and
41 exports generally of beef from Costa Rica, the majority of
42 which went to the USA. But as we have, I can't remember
43 where, we did see that there were exports to other
44 countries in our export documents that we have provided
45 from Costa Rica, which Arturo Wolf helpfully went through
46 with us, I think.
47
48 If I can just add this point, David Walker, the sole
49 supplier of McDonald's hamburgers in this country since
50 1978, was completely unaware of any policy, you know,
51 about having to purchase only locally produced beef or
52 even European beef, when he imported the Brazilian beef,
53 and he had never even heard of a rainforest policy or
54 Brazilian beef policy when he did that, despite the fact
55 that McDonald's claimed before that time there was a
56 worldwide edict from the desk of the chairman of the
57 entire corporation.
58
59 So if an edict from such a person is not even communicated
60 to a sole supplier of a major country in the McDonald's
