Supportive activities are rendered by the Environmental Sanitation Division of the Bureau of Health and Medical Services. The Bureau of Food and Drugs oversees the control of the manufacture and sale of processed foods, where the major concerns are adulteration and mislabelling of food products. It is responsible for the surveillance of imported food products at legal ports of entry. Sanitary operation of establishments engaged in the sale and preparation of food in public markets, restaurants and other food premises is the responsibility of the Environmental Sanitation Division. For purposes of public administration of various government programmes, the country is divided into 12 regional units in addition to the National Capital Region which is Metro Manila.
All ministries have regional offices.
The national level is responsible for the overall food safety policy which includes planning of regulatory and monitoring programmes at regional and local levels. In order to reduce the incidence of foodborne diseases, the Ministry of Health has a food sanitation programme aimed at ameliorating food sanitation conditions through improved training and supervision of personnel responsible for food sanitation and more effective implementation of the Code on Sanitation. Food sanitation seminars, especially for food handlers, are conducted at the national, provincial and municipal levels. Health education of the public, including the basic concepts of food sanitation and nutrition, is incorporated in the programme. Other than Chapter III of the Code on Sanitation, which applies to food service hygiene aboard common carriers, there are no national codes of practice on other aspects of food hygiene.