Day 077 - 25 Jan 95 - Page 20

     
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     2   Q.   I am coming to McDonald's in a moment, but I just want to
     3        touch briefly on the major supermarkets without mentioning
     4        names.  Do they have stringent standards for their meat?
     5        A.  They have very stringent standards, yes, and they have
     6        quality control departments and they have -----
     7
     8   Q.   Do they have any animal welfare standards?
     9        A.  They do not pay anywhere near the amount of attention
    10        to animal welfare as McDonald's do.
    11
    12   Q.   How often do your people visit your sources of supply, the
    13        abattoir?
    14        A.  A minimum of two visits per year per site.
    15
    16   Q.   You say "a minimum", are you able to hazard an average?
    17        A.  I would, looking over the whole geographical area,
    18        I would stay on two visits, but if we have any reason to
    19        want to check an abattoir and boning room, then it will
    20        have repeated visits until that particular problem is
         attended to.  I mean, I can cite one particular boning room
    22        which had five visits in 12 months.
    23
    24   Q.   You told us a moment ago that the supermarkets' standards,
    25        requirements, for animal welfare do not match up to
    26        McDonald's, in effect; is that right?
    27        A.  Correct.
    28
    29   Q.   What sort of demands have McDonald's made on you, so far as
    30        animal welfare is concerned?
    31        A.  Well, in Europe now, in Europe, McDonald's have a beef
    32        committee and that beef committee has set out a document
    33        which sets down the requirements of animal welfare.  But I
    34        would like to say now that McKey has paid attention to
    35        animal welfare for many years.
    36
    37   Q.   As between you and McDonald's where animal welfare is
    38        concerned, on whom of the two companies does the
    39        responsibility lie, or principally lie, to ensure that
    40        proper standards of animal welfare are maintained at the
         abattoir?  Is it your responsibility or is it theirs?
    42        A.  It is, if I understand you, sir, it is the
    43        responsibility of the abattoir.
    44
    45   Q.   That I understand.
    46        A.  But, I mean, as far as we are concerned, we are
    47        checking it.  It is on our check list all the time.
    48
    49   Q.   What I was getting at was this:  To what extent is it
    50        necessary for McDonald's to do that work themselves; to 
    51        what extent are they able to rely on you to do it? 
    52        A.  Oh, they rely absolutely on us for the inspection of 
    53        the abattoirs and boning rooms.
    54
    55   Q.   Can I ask you a little bit (and it is relevant, I hope)
    56        about your present relationship with McDonald's?  Since you
    57        bought their share of the business in 1990, have you
    58        maintained a good relationship with them?
    59        A.  Absolutely.
    60