Day 241 - 26 Apr 96 - Page 04

     
     1             I took notes of my conversations with Miss Bensilum.
     2        (There were three).  I am prepared to give evidence and to
     3        produce these notes".  Do you still have the notes?
     4        A.  Unfortunately no, towards the end of 1993, the office
     5         -- we had been taken over.  We were previously owned by
     6        Lonrho.  We were taken over by The Guardian.
     7
     8   MR. RAMPTON:  My Lord, I intervene to say I attach no weight to
     9        the notes do not exist.
    10
    11   MR. JUSTICE BELL:  Very well.  They have been lost?
    12        A.  They were lost in a move along with a lot of other
    13        material.
    14
    15   MS. STEEL:  "Ms. Bensilum told me that Montecillos supplies six
    16        restaurants in Costa Rica.  She said the suppliers were
    17         `under instructions not to supply meat from recently
    18        deforested land'.  I asked what was the definition of
    19         `recent'.  She replied: `within the last 25 years'.
    20             She agreed that in the 1950's, the farms supplying
         McDonald's Costa Rica through Montecillos had been
    22        rainforest.  She said: `I think the world would accept that
    23        before that time it was rainforest.  We have to accept
    24        that.  All we can do is ensure that (deforestation) doesn't
    25        continue on our behalf'.
    26             She said: `We only deal with suppliers who deal with
    27        farms that have been long established ... about 25 years is
    28        the definition we put on being recently deforested'.
    29             I asked how this related to Montecillos.  She said:
    30        'The arrangements with that company, the beef with which
    31        they supply us, comes from farms which were deforested in
    32        the 1950's'.  She said that Montecillos staff had given
    33        undertakings they would not breach the 25 year rule.
    34        McDonald's staff would visit Montecillos to ensure they
    35        were complying with this stricture.  If they didn't,
    36        McDonald's would cease trading with them.
    37             I asked what other tropical countries McDonald's had
    38        outlets in.  They were Malaysia, Guatemala, Venezuela and
    39        Brazil (where there are 50 restaurants).  The first
    40        conversation ended with my asking when the 25 year policy
         started, and what had been the policy before.
    42             Eadie Bensilum phoned me back about an hour later,
    43        towards the end of the afternoon.  She said: `The policy as
    44        it stands that our use of beef doesn't destroy rainforests
    45        was formulated in 1988.  Our policy has always been that
    46        our business should not have an impact on rainforests'.
    47             She said this general policy started in the 1950's.
    48        I asked for more details.  She phoned a third time.
    49             She said that the US policy was always to use US beef
    50        in US restaurants.  But when the first restaurant opened in 
    51        Costa Rica in 1970, they were buying beef from farms 
    52        established between 1920 and 1960, i.e. only 10 years 
    53        earlier.  This was policy until 1988.  She said: `The
    54        policy was more lax than it is now.  There was still an
    55        awareness of the need to deal with established farms; there
    56        was less awareness generally in society of the rainforest
    57        issue'."
    58             Is this an accurate record of your conversation with
    59        Miss Bensilum?
    60        A.  Yes, it is.