ID :
55491
Wed, 04/15/2009 - 07:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/55491
The shortlink copeid
Consumer affairs agency to be set up as early as this fall+
TOKYO, April 14 Kyodo - A new government agency to oversee consumer affairs will be established as early as this fall after the ruling and opposition parties agreed Tuesday to revise bills to set up the agency.
With the agreement, it became certain that the legislation will be enacted
during the ongoing Diet session. The legislation is expected to clear the House
of Representatives on Friday after it is revised jointly by the two sides at
the lower house special committee on consumer affairs on Thursday, lawmakers
said.
The plan to set up the agency was initiated by Prime Minister Taro Aso's
predecessor, Yasuo Fukuda, in January 2008 amid a spate of food-labeling
scandals and incidents that seriously undermined public confidence in food
safety.
The agreement was reached after the ruling and opposition parties came to a
compromise on strengthening the powers of a monitoring body that will oversee
the administration of consumer affairs, as requested by the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan.
Both sides agreed to give the body, which will be called a consumers affairs
committee, the right to make recommendations to the prime minister and the
right to request that government ministries and agencies concerned submit
documents on consumer affairs.
The two sides also agreed to upgrade the monitoring body from an organization
subordinate to the proposed agency, as stipulated in the original
government-sponsored bills, to an extra-ministerial bureau of the Cabinet
Office of the same rank as the consumer affairs agency.
The DPJ initially submitted counterproposals to the government-proposed bills
but later changed its stance after other opposition parties expressed support
for setting up the agency.
After the DPJ shifted its position, the ruling coalition of the Liberal
Democratic Party and the New Komeito party decided to make some concessions,
leading to the agreement between the two sides.
Prime Minister Aso has stressed the need to establish a consumer affairs agency
as soon as possible to create an administration that ensures people's
well-being.
==Kyodo
2009-04-14 22:32:45
With the agreement, it became certain that the legislation will be enacted
during the ongoing Diet session. The legislation is expected to clear the House
of Representatives on Friday after it is revised jointly by the two sides at
the lower house special committee on consumer affairs on Thursday, lawmakers
said.
The plan to set up the agency was initiated by Prime Minister Taro Aso's
predecessor, Yasuo Fukuda, in January 2008 amid a spate of food-labeling
scandals and incidents that seriously undermined public confidence in food
safety.
The agreement was reached after the ruling and opposition parties came to a
compromise on strengthening the powers of a monitoring body that will oversee
the administration of consumer affairs, as requested by the main opposition
Democratic Party of Japan.
Both sides agreed to give the body, which will be called a consumers affairs
committee, the right to make recommendations to the prime minister and the
right to request that government ministries and agencies concerned submit
documents on consumer affairs.
The two sides also agreed to upgrade the monitoring body from an organization
subordinate to the proposed agency, as stipulated in the original
government-sponsored bills, to an extra-ministerial bureau of the Cabinet
Office of the same rank as the consumer affairs agency.
The DPJ initially submitted counterproposals to the government-proposed bills
but later changed its stance after other opposition parties expressed support
for setting up the agency.
After the DPJ shifted its position, the ruling coalition of the Liberal
Democratic Party and the New Komeito party decided to make some concessions,
leading to the agreement between the two sides.
Prime Minister Aso has stressed the need to establish a consumer affairs agency
as soon as possible to create an administration that ensures people's
well-being.
==Kyodo
2009-04-14 22:32:45
