Day 089 - 15 Feb 95 - Page 21
1 A. They had not raised any objection to it.
2
3 Q. If MAFF said: "Hoi, we do not think your stunning current
4 is strong enough, given our guidelines on the slaughter of
5 poultry", if they had ever said that, would you know about
6 that?
7 A. Yes, we certainly would and this was really the reason
8 that we made sure that they were present for the occasion
9 of Dr. Gregory's visit because we were aware that the
10 equipment did not actually meet the MAFF guidelines in
11 terms of the current that it delivered, but we wanted the
12 MAFF officials to see it, to show them that it did actually
13 do the job effectively.
14
15 Q. Did they seem satisfied with what they had seen?
16 A. They were satisfied with that and, on that basis, they
17 were prepared to give us a derogation from working to the
18 official code of practice.
19
20 Q. Had they seen the old system in operation as well?
21 A. Yes, they had -- many times.
22
23 Q. Had they ever expressed and reservation about its efficacy
24 and its practice?
25 A. No, they had not.
26
27 Q. If they said: "This is not good enough" and you did not
28 comply, would that represent any danger to your licence?
29 A. Yes, it would. I mean, we would not be allowed to run
30 our factory with stunning equipment which was not
31 effective.
32
33 Q. So, a failure of welfare can disqualify you for your
34 licence, can it?
35 A. Absolutely.
36
37 Q. In relation to welfare, and for the time that you have been
38 at Sun Valley, has your licence ever been threatened in
39 that way?
40 A. No, it has not.
41
42 Q. Would you expect to get a warning or fore-notice if there
43 were faults or criticisms observed by MAFF or by the OVS?
44 A. Yes, normally we get, if there is anything
45 unsatisfactory, they would normally warn us and tell us
46 exactly what we have to do to rectify the problem.
47 Normally, that can be, that is just part of day-to-day
48 practice.
49
50 Q. The difference in current, however, that you use as against
51 the MAFF guideline is built into your system, is it not?
52 A. It is built into the system, yes.
53
54 Q. They know about it?
55 A. And they know about it.
56
57 Q. Can we go back, as I promised a moment ago we would, to the
58 preconception stage of broiler chickens. From what sort of
59 stock are broilers bred?
60 A. We keep broiler "breeders", as we call them, which are
