The following information has been provided by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a contribution to this project. It is authorised information provided to the WHO by the relevant government. The project would welcome additional material in the usual FLIP2000 format.
The territorial agencies responsible for food control in French Polynesia are the Public Health Service Department (by delegation from the Direction for Public Health Service) and the Livestock Service Section of the Rural Economy Service. The Public Health Service controls all foodstuffs at the retail level. The Rural Economic Service inspects food of animal origin at the point of production, exportation or importation. Both services share the responsibility for the control and surveillance of wholesale food and all food processing plants.
Food inspection services are conducted by nine inspectors who are responsible for: the sanitary inspection and control of foodstuffs; food premises and food handlers; the enforcement of food legislation; special investigations, including the collection of food samples for analysis; and health education for professionals and consumers. There are also six polyvalent agents in decentralized locations (outlying islands or rural areas) with similar responsibilities.
No routine food analytical services are performed, except for milk, and no specialized laboratory for food analysis exists. If required, chemical analysis of food is carried out at the Public Health Service Laboratory and bacterial analysis at the Microbiology Laboratory of the Louis Malard Institute for Medical Research.
The Public Health Service and the Rural Economy Service are the agencies responsible for the enforcement of legislation relating to food safety contained in several basic deliberations and supplementary regulations enacted by the Territorial Government.
Labelling and date-marking of foodstuffs are required for milk products, eggs, and imported animal products. Other import regulations apply to products of animal origin and frozen vegetables.
Food handlers are required to undergo an annual medical examination, but a supplementary examination may be ordered by health officials if the food handler is suspected to be suffering from some communicable disease. Notification of foodborne diseases is not legally required and no statistics are available on food poisoning.