Day 285 - 23 Oct 96 - Page 24


     
     1        course, the evidence on the matter.
     2
     3        The next question in this section about the rainforest
     4        policy is:  are they actually committed to the protection
     5        of tropical forest?  Couple of points on that.  Despite
     6        being aware at least since 1982 since they wrote the
     7        letter admitting that this was a very important issue and
     8        one that should be taken seriously by them in such a way
     9        as to not use exports, for example, Brazilian beef, that
    10        Edie Bensilum said to David Rose, as we have heard, that
    11        there was "less awareness in society of the need to
    12        protect rainforest before 1988", which is why their policy
    13        changed then.  And when they became, presumably, more
    14        aware, they asked Mr. Cesca to start drawing up a policy,
    15        we would say, and the lack of seriousness in reality that
    16        they treated it, not in terms of publicity and propaganda,
    17        was that they did not involve any independent experts in,
    18        for example, mapping out the region in Brazil.
    19
    20        It was a question of Mr. Cesca and Mr. Morganti flying
    21        over the area in an aeroplane in a completely
    22        non-scientific and arbitrary and completely meaningless
    23        fashion, and that, linked with the way that they responded
    24        to Friends of The Earth's constructive approach as
    25        indicated by Mr. Secrett in the witness box, indicates
    26        that in fact they were not serious about the subject in
    27        reality only in terms of the public face.  The conclusion
    28        on the policy on the use of tropical forest or rainforest
    29        beef is they clearly have used beef from ex-rainforest
    30        land in Costa Rica, Brazil and Guatemala.
    31
    32   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   You are going actually to come to that, are
    33        you not?
    34
    35   MR. MORRIS:   Yes, I am.
    36
    37   MR JUSTICE BELL:  Because I am not saying these points are not
    38        helpful.  I am carefully making a note of the particular
    39        points in the evidence.
    40
    41   MR. MORRIS:   Right.
    42
    43   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Obviously, it is important to do the other
    44        side's case, but most advocates would normally say what
    45        they say proved that they damaged the rainforest and then
    46        after that they would go on to knocking down the evidence
    47        that they did not, whereas -----
    48
    49   MR. MORRIS:   Doing it the other way round.  I did not know
    50        that was the normal procedure.
    51
    52   MR JUSTICE BELL:  No, you carry on in your own way.  Whatever 
    53        you do, do not forget the bit which I would normally
    54        expect to come first.
    55
    56   MR. MORRIS:   Right.  I think a lot of it is established
    57        anyway.
    58
    59   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   Yes.
    60

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