Day 286 - 24 Oct 96 - Page 35
1
2 So, the fact that they are suppliers to McDonald's does not
3 mean that they are independent; quite the opposite, they
4 are not independent witnesses, especially on an issue like
5 this that that directly goes to their own reputations.
6
7 Let me see if there is anything else on Costa Rica.
8 (Pause) I mean, for the references of that last point,
9 Donald Monroe says, "About 70 percent of the meat processed
10 in our plants is intended for the production of fast food,
11 mainly as hamburgers, minced meat and similar product.
12 About 95 percent of our output goes to the United States.
13 It is the largest meat factory in Costa Rica". That is
14 Gisa. And Arturo Woolf has worked not only in Costa Rica
15 in this chain of causation of destruction of tropical and
16 rainforest, but he had also worked in the United States at
17 the other end of that chain at Standard Meats, which
18 imported beef from Costa Rica.
19
20 In terms of the point I made before about Brazil, which
21 relates to Costa Rica as well, that the raw material...
22 Well, the point I made before about the inter-connection
23 between the company's local supplies and export supplies,
24 that Co-op Montecillos is supplying McDonald's in Costa
25 Rica and in the same complex at Baranca they have an export
26 division, and therefore it is just... Well, it is just the
27 same point I made before about Morganti and the supplies he
28 was responsible for.
29
30 Charles Secrett commented about Costa Rica as well, and his
31 conclusion, expert conclusion, on this subject was the only
32 realistic conclusion, given the circumstances operating at
33 the time is that during the '70s and much of the '80s, beef
34 and cattle reared on recently deforested tropical land in
35 countries like Costa Rica was used by all the major fast
36 food retailers in the US including McDonald's, and that
37 McDonald's had failed to satisfy him to the contrary or
38 produced, in fact, any documentary evidence to the
39 contrary.
40
41 Mr. Woolf said, during his evidence, day 226, page 47 line
42 24. Question: "Cattle industry has only experienced a
43 boom in the last 30 years after the land became
44 deforested", and so on. Wait a minute, sorry, I had better
45 get the references and find out exactly what was said.
46 (Pause) I have nearly finished the Costa Rica submission.
47
48 MR JUSTICE BELL: Page 47, line 24.
49
50 MR. MORRIS: Thank you. Yes. I was putting some, some text to
51 him. No, I can't remember exactly what this was now, but
52 it does not matter. Let me just check. Yes. "The cattle
53 industry has only experienced a boom in the last 30 years
54 after the lands became deforested", and so on. "Before
55 that there was only dairy farming in the mountains". I put
56 to him, "OK". Then he said, "There is something missing in
57 that statement." You said to him, "If you agree that it is
58 true what is there, 'I want to say, yes, that is true,
59 but...', please do so." Answer, "OK, that is true, but
60 there have been several booms throughout Costa Rica,
