The House of Councilors passed and enacted a number of bills Thursday, including one that allows Japanese authorities to inspect foreign vessels within or beyond its territorial waters as part of international economic sanctions and another outlawing human cloning.

The bill that permits the Self-Defense Forces to search foreign vessels on the high seas was cleared by the ruling coalition -- the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party -- as well as the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan during an Upper House plenary session.

The Upper House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense had approved the bill earlier in the day.

The new law stipulates that Japanese authorities may inspect a nonmilitary foreign vessel in an emergency if mandated by a U.N. Security Council resolution or with the consent of the country where the vessel is registered.

Under the law, weapons can be used only to protect members of the SDF while conducting the inspection.

Inspectors will be given permission to examine the cargo of the target vessel and check its destination. If necessary, the authorities can take action to request a change of route.

Necessary pertinent laws relating to the new defense agreement between Japan and the United Sates were also completed with the enactment of the measure.

The bill was excluded from other laws establishing the new defense cooperation guidelines in May 1999 because of disagreement over whether the inspections should be limited to emergency situations or not.

Cloning ban enacted

The House of Councilors on Thursday passed and enacted a measure that would make human cloning a crime carrying a punishment of up to 10 years in prison.

The action was taken by the Upper House's plenary session shortly after the Upper House Committee on Education, Culture and Science approved the measure.

The bill provides for regulations on cloning technology pertaining to humans.

The Upper House panel also adopted a resolution attached to the bill calling for swift action on the part of the government in drawing up guidelines as proposed in the measure.

The legislation bans cloning of humans on the grounds that it is an act that "could have a serious impact on human dignity, the biological safety of the human body and maintenance of order in society."

Specifically, the new law's prohibition concerns embryos created by implanting a somatic cell into an unfertilized egg deprived of a nucleus.

It also pertains to "hybrid" embryos generated by matching a human egg with an animal sperm and "chimera" embryos created by mixing human and animal cells.

The new law also bans implanting these embryos into maternal bodies, be they human or animal. It also aims to regulate research on other similar cloning technology under guidelines the panel hopes the government will work out within one year.

Elderly to pay more

The House of Councilors Committee on Health and Welfare on Thursday adopted a bill to revise the country's medical care system to oblige elderly patients to shoulder 10 percent of their medical costs.

The bill was passed by the panel with support mainly from the three parties of the ruling coalition -- the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party. It was expected to be enacted at the Upper House plenary session later in the day.

Under the current system, outpatients aged 70 and over are required to pay 530 yen per visit, with a monthly upper limit for medical costs set at 2,120 yen, while inpatients in that age bracket must pay 1,200 yen per day.

Bedridden patients aged 65 to 69 are also eligible for the medical insurance system for those aged 70 or above, provided they receive certification from municipal heads.

The revised system, to take effect Jan. 1, will uniformly oblige the elderly to pay 10 percent of their medical costs and raise the monthly limit for outpatients 70 and older to 3,000 yen.

But at large hospitals with more than 200 beds, the limit would be further raised to 5,000 yen per month.

Clinics can also opt for a fixed-amount medical cost system where outpatients pay 800 yen per visit, with a monthly upper limit of 3,200 yen. Patients will have to pay in accordance with the system adopted by their clinics.

For elderly inpatients, the new system will set the monthly limit on their payments for hospital care costs at 37,200 yen, but those from low-income households would be required to pay up to 24,600 yen.

The revision is aimed at containing ballooning health-related expenditures for the elderly. The change would require patients to pay 146 billion yen in additional medical costs every year.

Those under 70, who currently pay no more than 63,600 yen in medical costs per month, would also be obliged to pay more.

When total monthly costs exceed 318,000 yen, patients would shoulder 1 percent of the additional costs. For those whose monthly income tops 560,000 yen, the monthly upper limit would be raised to 121,800 yen, and they would also have to pay 1 percent of additional costs when the total costs exceed 609,000 yen.

For low-income earners under 70, the monthly upper limit would remain at 35,400 yen.

Meanwhile, the Upper House panel also approved a bill to revise the Medical Service Law, aimed at improving services for hospitalized patients by increasing the number of nurses and separating beds depending on patients' health conditions.

According to the bill, also expected to be enacted at the Upper House plenary session later in the day, hospital beds would be separated for patients suffering from acute diseases and those receiving treatment for chronic illnesses.

One nurse would take care of up to three patients requiring intensive care, instead of the one for four patients at present.