Former Cabinet Office Vice Minister Shunichi Uchida will be named chief of a new government agency to be launched in September to deal with consumer affairs, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Wednesday.
The government has set up a preparatory office in the runup to the inauguration of the agency, along with a "consumers committee," a watchdog body made up of experts, Kawamura said.
Uchida will head the preparatory office and lawyer Hiroko Sumita will run the watchdog body.
"Mr. Uchida is the best person for the job," Kawamura said of Uchida, who was prominently involved in the process of creating the new agency.
By setting up the agency, the government aims to improve the current administrative functions that are often vertically divided, and shift its main emphasis to the needs of consumers from those of manufacturers.