Policy affairs chiefs from the ruling coalition and New Komeito agreed Friday to work on new legislation to protect individual information, clearing the way for passage of a citizen-numbering system, party officials said.

The agreement paves the way for a bill that would allow revision of the current resident register law so that a number can be assigned to each person living in Japan.

Officials of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its junior coalition partner, the Liberal Party, agreed to set up a panel during the current Diet session that will discuss issues related to the proposed law, and aim to have it enacted within the next three years.