Day 241 - 26 Apr 96 - Page 56
1 dynamic sector in Central American trade during the 1960s
2 and 1970s, with a 400 per cent increase between 1961 and
3 1974 alone".
4
5 If I just refer to the chart below, we have here the total
6 beef exports from 1973 to 1982 for Costa Rica and Guatemala
7 and it can be seen that Costa Rica is the largest exporter
8 and Guatemala is a very substantial exporter. If we just
9 note for Mexico, as it has come up in the case, underneath
10 the chart there are two dots, two stars next to Mexico. It
11 says, "Excluding live feeder calves of which 468,000 were
12 exported in 1982."
13
14 If I carry on reading under "The Hamburger Society" in the
15 centre of the page:
16
17 "Overall, the beef that the United States purchases from
18 Central America represents only 13.5 per cent of the amount
19 that the US companies import from throughout the world and
20 less than 2 per cent of the nation's total beef
21 consumption. Despite slight declines in recent years,
22 annual per capita beef consumption in the United States
23 still surpasses 1051bs and an American house cat eats more
24 beef in a year than the average Central American.
25
26 It is important to point out that the majority of US beef
27 imports have always originated in Australia and New
28 Zealand, with lesser amounts from Brazil, Argentina,
29 Ireland, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Beef exports
30 from Central America began in earnest in the 1960s when the
31 emphasis placed by US cattlemen on higher profit, grain fed
32 beef and the rise of the fast-food industry combined to
33 create a shortage of the cheap cuts used in hamburgers and
34 processed beef products."
35
36 Then at the bottom of the page, the last paragraph starting
37 "Central America": "Central American beef exports enter
38 the United States in 60lb boxes of frozen deboned cuts
39 packed in USDA inspected abattoirs".
40
41 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Where was that?
42
43 MR. MORRIS: Sorry, it is on page 17 with the words "Central
44 America", the last paragraph. It is an incomplete
45 paragraph. Shall I start again now?
46
47 MR. JUSTICE BELL: No, that is all right.
48
49 MR. MORRIS: ".... packed in USDA inspected abattoirs in the
50 Central American countries, transported by refrigerated
51 container ships to port cities in Florida and California.
52 The meat is purchased by custom house brokers and meat
53 packers, then sold to fast-food chains and convenience food
54 processors throughout the country."
55
56 Then I will continue reading over the page, the first full
57 paragraph, starting with the word "identifying":
58
59 "Identifying the specific products that contain imported
60 Central American beef is difficult, if not impossible.
