After toxic "gyoza" dumplings imported from China were found tainted with the farm chemical methamidophos in January 2008, the administration of then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda put forth the idea of creating a Consumer Agency.
As the new Diet session, which started this week, is likely to focus on a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008 and on the fiscal 2009 budget to rescue the Japanese economy, lawmakers should not forget about separate bills proposed by the ruling bloc and the Democratic Party of Japan to create an entity to protect and expand the rights of consumers.
Mr. Fukuda called for a switch from the traditional producers-first to a consumers-first policy. As if taking a cue from this philosophy, both the ruling and opposition camps at one time were vocal about enhancing consumers' rights. But as the Japanese economy entered a crisis and the government and political parties became obsessed with policy measures to tide over economic difficulties, their enthusiasm for consumer protection seems to have evaporated.