In September 2006, an experts' forum submitted a report to the environment minister, stressing the urgent need for the central government to take the initiative in setting up a new, permanent framework to aid all victims of Minamata disease, including unrecognized and latent victims.
Yet, more than one year after the report, a final plan to rescue such victims does not exist, although more than 5,000 people seek recognition as victims of the disease, a symbol of Japan's postwar industrial pollution. It is uncertain whether a project team put together by the ruling coalition can present an equitable plan that compares even with a 1995 government program.
In 1973, Minamata disease victims and Chisso Corp. signed a compensation agreement, but the criteria for recognizing victims were too strict. In 1977 the government stipulated that a person suffering from a combination of mercury-poisoning symptoms, such as sensory disturbances and visual-field constriction, could be recognized as a Minamata disease victim. People with less severe symptoms were excluded from compensation.