Day 064 - 08 Dec 94 - Page 04

     
     1   Q.   But you had not introduced anything to do with farming so
     2        there should not have been any difference to animal
     3        welfare, so why bother mentioning it?
     4        A.  I have just explained it to you, that the farming
     5        becomes more efficient through the volume we buy from Sun
     6        Valley.  And we comply to the animal welfare standards.
     7        I have not said:  "We have improved the animal welfare
     8        standards", I have said:  "We comply".
     9
    10   Q.   You have said -----
    11
    12   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  You have put your point to him and he has
    13        given his answer.  Thereafter, it is a matter of argument.
    14
    15   MR. MORRIS:  Just on a related matter, this document here talks
    16        about your partnership with Sun Valley which you said you
    17        did not have?
    18        A.  We do not.
    19
    20   Q.   You do not?
         A.  No.
    22
    23   Q.   So why did you enter a partnership with Sun Valley in 1984?
    24        A.  A partnership with -- we call our suppliers "partners",
    25        so every major supplier is a partner but we have no legal
    26        partnerships with any suppliers and we have no contracts
    27        with any suppliers.  It is a generic term that we use with
    28        our major suppliers.
    29
    30   Q.   So you have a partnership but it is not a legal
    31        partnership?
    32        A.  There is no legal partnership or contract to supply us.
    33
    34   Q.   But, in effect, the effect is one of a partnership?
    35
    36   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Perhaps you should -- I will, no doubt, get
    37        it slightly wrong -- a partnership in law is any
    38        arrangement whereby profits and/or losses are shared.
    39
    40   MR. MORRIS:  Yes, I was not using it in that way.
    41
    42   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  No, I am just saying that because it may be
    43        it can be used both in the legal sense and in the sense of
    44        just some working together in some way.
    45
    46   MR. MORRIS:  That arrangement applies to your relationship to
    47        all your suppliers, yes?
    48        A.  Well, all major suppliers.
    49
    50   Q.   Do you have contacts with government ministers? 
    51        A.  Some, yes. 
    52 
    53   Q.   Do you have dinners with government ministers?
    54        A.  From time to time we do; I do not attend them all but
    55        I attend a proportion of them.
    56
    57   Q.   Your suppliers attend with you sometimes?
    58        A.  Very infrequently but they do occasionally, maybe once
    59        a year.
    60