Day 068 - 16 Dec 94 - Page 48
1 government that would know.
2
3 Q. What about minutes of company meetings, or something, where
4 this was discussed, where the whole issue was gone into;
5 have you seen things like that?
6 A. Can you repeat the question?
7
8 Q. When it became a controversy, the company must have
9 discussed it. They may have said, you know -- well, they
10 may have said anything, I do not know. But would you have
11 seen minutes of meetings which made you feel that they are
12 taking the situation seriously?
13 A. One of the reasons -- I know for a fact, and it has
14 been my experience, that we take any potential allegation
15 very seriously.
16
17 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Yes. All you are being asked is whether you
18 have seen any documentation which suggested that any
19 independent inquiry was made, by which I assume Mr. Morris
20 means was anyone outside the company asked to look into it.
21
22 MR. MORRIS: Or that it was discussed by the company at top
23 level?
24 A. I have stated before that I have not seen any evidence,
25 any documented evidence, which would include minutes, on
26 that particular issue. I have heard, though, the
27 conversations, and I know that we do not have room to keep
28 all of the minutes that we produce in the last 10 years.
29 In addition to that, I was not at the company in those
30 years.
31
32 Q. So when you were making your searches for information so
33 that you could give evidence on oath here today about the
34 true situation, did you find any specifications on the
35 areas that pre-dated the mid-1980's, any specifications
36 that either said "Coope Montecillos is not to export beef
37 to other McDonald's companies", or specify the sources that
38 were prohibited within Costa Rica for the purchase of beef
39 by Coope Montecillos, specifications of Coope Montecillos
40 or to Coope Montecillos? Let us concentrate on the second
41 one; forget the exports for the moment. Have you seen any
42 specifications which have said clearly to Coope Montecillos
43 where their sources of beef should or should not come from,
44 that pre-date, say, 1985 or whatever?
45 A. I am not sure if I understand your question. I am
46 going to repeat it the way I understand it. Your question
47 is, have I seen any specifications -- I take it food
48 specifications or any?
49
50 MR. MORRIS: Any specifications.
51
52 MR. JUSTICE BELL: It was a very long question. You started
53 with this company in 1991. You are being asked whether you
54 have seen any documents before 1985 which indicated that
55 McDonald's had a policy not to use beef which came from a
56 rainforest area.
57 A. OK.
58
59 Q. Just say "yes" or "no", first of all?
60 A. No, no, I have not.
