Day 095 - 02 Mar 95 - Page 11


     
     1        A.  All plants are run by federal inspectors.  There is not
     2        a single plant in the United States that is not.
     3        Everything is federally inspected.
     4
     5   Q.   What is the point in replacing the federal inspectors with
     6        company inspectors then under the SIS system?
     7        A.  The stream lined system.  The purpose of that is that
     8        in the past the intent of the regulation was to correct a
     9        problem once you see it.  If you see under today's system,
    10        if you see carcass that is contaminated, you condemn it,
    11        and that is what the inspectors do.
    12
    13        The new system is designed so that instead of waiting for
    14        that to happen, we prevent it from happening.  The QA
    15        system, or the QA staff, just like myself, I can tell you,
    16        I do very little work quality assurance.  I do a lot of
    17        quality improvement.  So, I go back to the source that is
    18        causing the problem and fix it there, and I do not wait for
    19        that to happen.
    20
    21        It is a better system in terms that it gives you a better
    22        assurance.  It is the main concept of the HACCP system.  It
    23        is economically better because it costs a lot less to fix a
    24        problem and prevent it rather than wait to happen and pay
    25        for the consequences.
    26
    27   Q.   Where are they fixing the problem?  Are you talking about
    28        before it gets to the slaughterhouse?
    29        A.  Everywhere.  I will tell you an example.  I was last
    30        week, the week prior to coming here, I went to see and met
    31        with the people from Cargill.  They are spending 25 million
    32        dollars on a new plant to prevent that because of the zero
    33        tolerance.
    34
    35   Q.   But they could have done that without the SIS system, could
    36        they not?
    37        A.  They are doing it because we are requesting them to do
    38        it a long time ago.  Obviously, 25 million dollars is a
    39        large investment.  It has to be approved.  You have to get
    40        a lot of information.  You have to develop new technologies
    41        which is in this case that is what it is.  It is new
    42        technologies, you have invest in that.  That is the problem
    43        with the regulations.
    44
    45        In the past, if you have a regulation, all you have to do
    46        is to meet the regulations.  That is what they have been
    47        doing for years.  We are the ones who are pushing the
    48        system to improve and prevent that from happening and
    49        forget the regulations.  As long as we do that, that is
    50        when you see this kind of results.  Who else is going to 
    51        develop a new processing system if it does not have any 
    52        merits, if it does not improve?  That is what happens when 
    53        you have a regulation.
    54
    55        In the case, for instance, of Simmons that we talked about
    56        yesterday, who is going to develop a new stunning method,
    57        if it is regulated, if the exact process is regulated?  If
    58        something is new out there, which I am sure it is, it
    59        cannot be applied, even if it improves the welfare of the
    60        animals because it does not meet the regulations.  It takes

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