Day 079 - 27 Jan 95 - Page 28
1 an example, and has informed the supplier of that (as they
2 would have to, presumably, inform them), in reality, what
3 happens to check up to see if they are adhering to the
4 guideline following that? Do you wait six months or do you
5 go back the next day or phone up and say: "Have you
6 changed your" -----
7 A. You do it a lot -- you do it very quickly, very
8 quickly. But, you see, the one you have particularly
9 picked on, packing it within one hour of boning, in the
10 combo system, as it comes down a mechanized line, it goes
11 straight into the combo. It cannot hang about. You have
12 to have an understanding of the industry. You have a
13 mobile moving line. You have a team of butchers boning.
14 At the end of that line there is a Quality Control
15 Inspector and beyond that Quality Control Inspector is a
16 combo bin. The meat is packed within minutes and that bin
17 is wheeled into a chiller and then it is load on to a
18 chilled lorry.
19
20 Q. So if, as an example, it was not done within minutes but it
21 was done more than an hour, and they were warned, then you
22 would check very quickly, very quickly afterwards?
23 A. I do not believe that it is possible for the meat not
24 to be in a combo bin for a period of time.
25
26 MR. JUSTICE BELL: I am sorry, you have made that point.
27
28 MR. MORRIS: It is just an example.
29
30 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Maybe I just picked a bad example. What
31 I was trying to imagine is something not happening
32 according to your specification in the abattoir which would
33 not necessarily be revealed on inspection at your plant, do
34 you see?
35 A. I follow you, my Lord.
36
37 Q. Maybe you will tell me: "Oh, there is nothing like that.
38 We are bound to discover it", though I would have thought
39 it is possible -- if that were so, there is no point in
40 sending inspectors to the abattoir at all. So, there must
41 be some things which they can see at the abattoir which
42 would not be detected when they arrive at the plant. All
43 you are being asked by Mr. Morris is: Does the inspector
44 just have a word with the management and say: "Thank you
45 very much. I will see in six months time" or what?
46 A. He would speak immediately on the subject if he saw it,
47 yes, sir.
48
49 Q. Yes, but would his next check be in six months time or
50 what? That is what you are being asked.
51 A. I have already said, my Lord, that if there was
52 anything which was seriously under query, the inspection
53 would be much, much quicker than six months. It would be
54 next week, plus the meat would be watched very carefully
55 when it arrived at the plant.
56
57 MR. MORRIS: So, your specifications then, are you saying that
58 some of them are not what you have just defined, say, as
59 serious?
60 A. I will not say that. Our specifications are extremely
