Day 285 - 23 Oct 96 - Page 22


     
     1        Rica, beef raised on areas of former tropical forest or
     2        rainforest or both, depending on whose definitions.  But
     3        another indication of the unreliability of suppliers is
     4        that McDonald's, because of criticism from Prince Phillip
     5        when it was found that the UK McDonald's was importing
     6        beef from Brazil, felt they needed some kind of cover note
     7        from the supplier there reassuring them.  Of course, it is
     8        not for rainforest, you can tell Prince Phillip.
     9
    10        When it turns out that Lord Vestey gave evidence, he did
    11        not know where his beef emanated from apart from his own
    12        stocks, which I think he said was something like ten
    13        percent.  He did not pretend to be an expert on that
    14        subject, even though he had written the letter to
    15        McDonald's, which no doubt would have impressed Prince
    16        Phillip if he ever saw it.  But it turns out that the
    17        letter was completely worthless and the reality was, as
    18        our expert Professor Susanna Hecht concluded, was that
    19        beef supplies on the market in the central areas of Brazil
    20        will include substantial and significant amounts of cattle
    21        that are being fed up to be slaughtered -- not fed up,
    22        fattened up to be slaughtered and a significant number of
    23        those cattle will have emanated from cleared rainforest
    24        land.
    25
    26        I think, from memory, Lord Vestey's letter included the
    27        points about the cattle were fattened up in the plain
    28        States and that is....
    29
    30   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   His letter never was put in evidence.  He
    31        was called to give evidence.
    32
    33   MR. MORRIS:   Right, yes.  But McDonald's should have known
    34        that letter was worthless at the time because the question
    35        is, if the cattle is being fattened up, where did they
    36        come from, and therefore McDonald's again misled -- I am
    37        not sure if the letter was ever shown to Prince Phillip or
    38        whatever, but anyway, that is history now.
    39
    40   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Well, it never was, was it?  It was just for
    41        internal use.
    42
    43   MR. MORRIS:   I don't know.  No, actually --
    44
    45   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  There is no evidence it was for anything but
    46        internal use.
    47
    48   MR. MORRIS:   Right.
    49
    50   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  The picture I have in my mind at the moment
    51        is quite clear; the letter itself was not anything to do
    52        with clearing Prince Phillip's mind.  What the purpose of 
    53        it was, was to get rid of reservations in Oakbrook and Bob
    54        Rae in this country, about getting cattle from Brazil no
    55        doubt in the light of the stink which had arisen after
    56        Prince Phillip saying that which in a later letter he said
    57        he did not say to the president of the Canadian company.
    58
    59   MS. STEEL:   I might be wrong, but I think that the plaintiffs
    60        did try to use it in this case when Mr. Walker was being

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