Day 067 - 15 Dec 94 - Page 24


     
     1        that we ourselves, our Quality Assurance Department, will
     2        visit some of the suppliers, not all of the suppliers.
     3
     4   Q.   When you say "suppliers" are you talking about
     5        slaughterhouses?
     6        A.  Slaughterhouses, that is correct.
     7
     8   Q.   What percentage of the slaughterhouses do you, the
     9        McDonald's Corporation, visit yourselves?
    10        A.  I am not sure.  I can provide you with that information
    11        if needed.
    12
    13   Q.   Are we talking about 10 per cent or 90 per cent?
    14        A.  We are probably talking closer to 10 per cent.
    15
    16   Q.   Right?
    17        A.  We are definitely not 90 per cent.  There are too many
    18        suppliers.  We do what we call a representative sample.
    19        So, we would visit suppliers in the different producing
    20        areas of the United States that would represent that zone.
    21        Our main intent for that visit is so that we feel
    22        confidence that our suppliers and ourselves will come up
    23        with the same result, and that we do understand the
    24        significance of the way in which the audit is structured so
    25        that we do it consistently.
    26
    27   Q.   They get these forms, your suppliers get the forms, that
    28        you have produced and they fill them out, do they?
    29        A.  Yes, they do.
    30
    31   Q.   Right.  Then do they return them to you?
    32        A.  That is up to them.  If they decide there is an issue
    33        that they need to pursue, they will contact our Quality
    34        Assurance Department; it could be myself, there is another
    35        person that works that is directly accountable for meat
    36        products in the US, so he would get involved if the
    37        supplier feels there is an issue that we need to get
    38        involved in.
    39
    40   Q.   But you do not regularly check the audit forms yourself as
    41        a company?
    42        A.  What do you mean by "checking" -- conducting audits?
    43
    44   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No.  You have evolved a form which your
    45        suppliers use when looking at the abattoirs which supply
    46        them?
    47        A.  That is correct.
    48
    49   Q.   Ms. Steel is trying to ascertain whether you actually see
    50        the form.  You have indicated, if there was anything worth 
    51        talking about you would expect the supplier to get in touch 
    52        with your Quality Assurance Department.  But you are being 
    53        asked do you, as a matter of routine, look at the forms
    54        themselves?
    55        A.  Thank you for clarifying.  Yes, I do see some of them.
    56        I do not see all of them.  That is because we have
    57        developed throughout the years a very strongly and mutually
    58        dependent relationship with our suppliers.
    59
    60   MS. STEEL:  Do the suppliers check all of the slaughterhouses?

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