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
