Day 078 - 26 Jan 95 - Page 55
1 A. None whatsoever, my Lord.
2
3 Q. --- not to talk about this?
4 A. No, sir.
5
6 Q. Or keep it quiet?
7 A. No, sir.
8
9 Q. So far as you were concerned?
10 A. No, sir. I was never given an instruction to hush it
11 up and I never knew of any such instruction.
12
13 MR. MORRIS: When you have attended, as you probably have,
14 hundreds of conferences and meetings, were senior officials
15 of McDonald's in different countries, has it ever been
16 mentioned? Is it ever laughed about it or said, "Oh
17 blimey, don't do that" or anything like that?
18 A. The answer to that is, no, it has been never been
19 mention apart from one person and that is Roberto Morganti
20 who is the same as me in Brazil, the meat manufacturing
21 chairman. That is the only person that since then I have
22 ever discussed it with.
23
24 Q. So the people in Brazil, the McDonald's people in Brazil
25 still remember the incident?
26 A. I do not think the McDonald's people in Brazil would
27 have anything to do with it. It was nothing to do with
28 them.
29
30 Q. The suppliers, just remind me who Roberto is again?
31 A. He is the same as me. He is the chairman of the
32 McDonald's meat supplying factory in Brazil.
33
34 MR. JUSTICE BELL: You said it was a joint venture.
35 A. Yes, sir. He is only the person, you asked me a
36 question, in Brazil I have ever spoken to about it
37 subsequently.
38
39 MR. MORRIS: What did Mr. -- I cannot remember his name, you
40 just said it, the chap from Brazil, what did he say to you
41 when he mentioned it to you in more recent times?
42 A. I really cannot remember.
43
44 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Can you remember how long ago it was first of
45 all, just very roughly? Was it six months years ago or six
46 years ago?
47 A. Can I try to work it out for you, sir? It was at the
48 World Conference before last; that would be 1990. I think
49 it would have been in Orlando.
50
51 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Do not worry your head about that at the
52 moment. In what context did the topic crop up if at all?
53 A. About Brazilian beef and the rainforest issue and the
54 fact that no beef even in Brazil comes anywhere from the
55 rainforest. I can remember what we talked about, my Lord.
56 We talked about the railway line which the Economic Union
57 had put in north of the RNO to get up to the steel works;
58 that is what we talked about, and how much rainforest that
59 had cut down. I do remember discussing that.
60
