Japan Lower House OKs Consumer Agency Bill

Tokyo, April 17 (Jiji Press)--Japan's House of Representatives on
Friday passed a bill to establish a new government agency that would
comprehensively handle consumer protection policies.
The bill was approved at a Lower House plenary session by a
unanimous vote.
After deliberations in the House of Councillors, the upper chamber,
the bill is expected to be enacted during the ongoing parliamentary session,
which ends on June 3.
The new agency's establishment, planned later this year, is
intended to integrate consumer affairs administration, which is currently
undertaken by multiple government agencies.
After negotiations, the ruling and opposition camps recently
reached an agreement to revise a government-proposed original bill in a way
to give stronger authority to an experts' panel that would monitor consumer
affairs administration.