Day 067 - 15 Dec 94 - Page 36


     
     1        pile of documents there, official documents, and that was
     2        the only one that they sought to make a copy of to give to
     3        us.
     4
     5   MR. RAMPTON:  No, my Lord.  The other documents, I happen to
     6        know the identity of some of them, because Dr. Gomez
     7        Gonzalez has shown them to me before he started giving
     8        evidence.  They are, in effect, a witness pack compiled by
     9        my solicitors with the help of the American lawyers for the
    10        witness to prepare himself.
    11
    12   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  I would not infer, I would not have thought
    13        there was anything strange that two documents out of a
    14        whole number in a briefcase are discoverable, or that 98
    15        per cent of them are discoverable.  It must entirely depend
    16        upon what is in the briefcase.
    17
    18   MR. MORRIS:  So, Mr. Gonzalez, did you manage to find a
    19        reference to animal welfare and animal welfare policy?
    20        A.  Not yet.
    21
    22   Q.   In your briefing pack and your general briefing, did you
    23        manage to find when you were preparing for this case any
    24        document which identified a McDonald's Corporation policy
    25        on animals, animal welfare?
    26        A.  The only thing that I identified is what I mentioned
    27        before regarding, that our suppliers must follow all laws
    28        and regulations, which include the Humane Slaughter Act,
    29        but I did not specifically found anything in this pink
    30        file, a specific written policy, regarding the Humane
    31        Slaughter Act.
    32
    33   Q.   The Humane Slaughter Act is only applicable in the United
    34        States of America, is it not?
    35        A.  It is a law and regulation that is applicable in the
    36        United States of America, that is correct, but if you look
    37        at our specification it implies that any manufacturer of
    38        beef outside of the US must follow the same regulation.
    39
    40   Q.   It does not say that, does it?
    41        A.  Yes, it does, sir.
    42
    43   Q.   What you read out:  "When doing business outside of the
    44        United States of America manufacturers must comply with all
    45        applicable food laws and regulations"?
    46        A.  That is exactly what it says.
    47
    48   Q.   It is the ones that apply in that particular country?
    49        A.  It says applicable under our corporate policy.
    50        McDonald's Corporation will follow the same policies and 
    51        guidelines that we are subjected as a company in the United 
    52        States. 
    53
    54   Q.   It does not say that, though, does it?  You have not got
    55        anything about a corporate policy on animal welfare?
    56        A.  It says "all applicable laws and regulations".
    57
    58   Q.   So when they read that, the small print, each supplier,
    59        each of your thousands of suppliers around the world, has
    60        to interpret what you mean by "applicable" and guess what

Prev Next Index