Day 105 - 16 Mar 95 - Page 37
1 I would not say that anybody had flouted anything;
2 I would say that licences have been issued subject to
3 certain structural works being carried out.
4
5 Q. MAFF do not seem to be very prompt at enforcing their,
6 I suppose you could call it an agreement or an arrangement
7 for improvements that they are expecting?
8 A. That is an opinion which does not accord with my
9 experience and many discussions and planning sessions with
10 MAFF.
11
12 Q. But you would say seven years is not prompt or is that
13 typical?
14 A. Seven years is a period over which the situation has
15 been changing. I am not saying that any plant has been
16 seven years refusing or otherwise not carrying out
17 requirements that were made seven years ago. That
18 certainly would not happen.
19
20 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Let us break off there. You are obviously
21 going to have contact with Mr. North at some time over the
22 next few days and see if he can help you as to what the
23 general structure of regulatory provisions is. We will
24 resume at 2 o'clock.
25
26 (Luncheon adjournment)
27
28 MR. MORRIS: Mr. Bennett, is it important that air be able to
29 circulate around carcasses in the chillers?
30 A. Depending on the strength and efficiency of the
31 refrigeration equipment, it is important for sufficient air
32 to circulate in order to achieve correct cooling.
33
34 Q. Is it important at Jarretts that air be able to circulate
35 around the carcasses in the chillers?
36 A. Sufficient air needs to circulate. We must talk about
37 the point as to whether the carcasses ought to touch at
38 all. It is not necessary for the carcasses to be
39 completely separate and not touching at all. If the
40 carcasses touch to a small degree, perhaps the front legs,
41 in fact, might be touching in order to fill the chiller to
42 capacity, in that case, the chiller will be able to do its
43 job perfectly satisfactorily.
44
45 Q. As long as the air can circulate around the carcasses?
46 A. As long as the air circulates around part of the
47 carcass, yes. Could I add that it automatically circulates
48 around two sides of it because the rails on which the
49 carcasses are hung are sufficiently separate, the carcasses
50 next to each other might touch.
51
52 Q. In your paragraph 40 -- there is no need to go to it -- you
53 say: "The view that 'contact contamination' is likely from
54 clean carcasses which have just been inspected and health
55 marked is, in my opinion, erroneous". When you say "clean
56 carcasses" you do not mean that the carcasses have no
57 bacterial contamination, do you?
58 A. No, I do not, indeed.
59
60 Q. There is no such thing, is there, as carcass bacterial
