Regulating the import of ultra-processed foods

Context

Junk food-related diseases are a major problem in the Pacific Islands. Many of these island nations have high rates of obesity and overweight, which are directly linked to diabetes. Of the ten countries in the world most affected by diabetes, six are in the Pacific. In Fiji, for example, a man is amputated every ten minutes because of health problems linked to an unbalanced diet.

Vanuatu, for its part, suffers from a dependence on agriculture and seafood that makes it vulnerable to food insecurity in the short term due to natural disasters and in the long term due to climate change.

The project

The province of Torba, one of the six administrative provinces of the Republic of Vanuatu and one of the most isolated, has decided to focus exclusively on local organic produce and fisheries. Its aim is to become the first self-sufficient province in Vanuatu. There are two issues at stake. The first is economic: with imports now outstripping exports, the province wants to restore some balance and revitalise the agricultural sector by creating jobs. The second is health: cardiovascular diseases linked to malnutrition are increasing rapidly.

In February 2017, at the instigation of local elected representatives, and in particular Luc Dini, president of the Torba Local Tourist Board, the import of junk food into the territory was banned. This measure obliges tourist establishments to serve only locally produced organic food. This change will primarily affect foreign tourists, while the province restores its agriculture, which has been ruined by imports.
In addition to sweets, the ban would also apply to rice, pasta and tinned fish or meat.

"It is easy to boil water for rice or pasta, but these foods have almost no nutritional value. We don't need to rely on so many imports when we have so many products that grow naturally on our islands." Luc Dini

For the moment, however, nothing has been said about alcohol imports.

Sources

• https://www.france24.com/fr/20170203-le-vanuatu-veut-bannir-iles-junk-food-occidentale
• https://www.courrierinternational.com/article/vanuatu-ces-iles-du-pacifique-qui-veulent-bannir-la-malbouffe-occidentale
• https://sharknews.fr/2017/02/07/le-vanuatu-part-en-guerre-contre-la-junk-food/
• https://www.vice.com/fr/article/3d4nn9/lile-qui-avait-decide-dinterdire-la-malbouffe
• https://www.futuredirections.org.au/publication/vanuatu-junk-food-ban-addresses-health-problems-leaves-islands-risk/

This sheet was written by Magda Salvatore, LFC trainee in June 2021.

Last modification : 23 Jan 2024.