Day 064 - 08 Dec 94 - Page 26

     
     1        it.  A quota was given and Mr. Walker used that quota.
     2        Now, subsequent to that, we have never used any quotas (and
     3        do not intend to use any quotas) for beef originating
     4        outside the European Union.
     5
     6   Q.   So why did you allow that situation to happen?
     7        A.  I do not think there was any reason that we should not
     8        have allowed it at that time.  There was none that we knew
     9        of.
    10
    11   Q.   Apart from the fact that it infringed your policy?
    12        A.  Not at that time.  No, I do not think it did.
    13
    14   Q.   You did not have a policy at that time then on the use of
    15        imported beef?
    16        A.  No, no, it did not infringe the policy at that time.
    17
    18   Q.   What was the policy at that time?
    19        A.  The beef came from approved plants.  It did not come
    20        from a tropical rainforest area.  It was not a quota system
         allowed by the European Community which made it legal and
    22        there was nothing wrong in what we did at that time.
    23
    24   Q.   So you did not have a policy at that time of not using beef
    25        which originated outside the EC Union?
    26        A.  No, not at that time.  It was not an issue.
    27
    28   Q.   So when was that policy brought in then?
    29        A.  I believe around the mid-80s -- maybe 1986.
    30
    31   Q.   So before 1986, do you want to name from your memory
    32        countries which were -- sorry, name the countries outside
    33        of Europe from which your beef suppliers had originated
    34        apart from European countries.
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Can I just get the chronology right?  You
    37        started in this country in 1974?
    38        A.  Yes, that is right.
    39
    40   Q.   By that time was this country subject to EC law, so far as
         import of beef was concerned?
    42        A.  Not at that time, no.
    43
    44   Q.   When did that come about, can you recall, because I am
    45        afraid I cannot?
    46        A.  It would have been certainly since I have worked for
    47        McDonald's, and that is 1978.
    48
    49   Q.   1978?
    50        A.  Yes. 
    51 
    52   Q.   So the quota system, the EC quota system, did not apply to 
    53        you in the 1974 but it did by 1978?
    54        A.  I can answer the last -- I can certainly answer the
    55        last part and say in 1978 it did apply.
    56
    57   Q.   But you cannot say whether it applied in 1974?
    58        A.  No, I cannot.
    59
    60   Q.   So, there is a window of four years between McDonald's