The government Sept. 1 inaugurated the Consumer Affairs Agency, a consolidated entity expected to better serve the public by bypassing the sectionalism of bureaucrats.

Created by the departing Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito government, the agency is expected to function as a key hub that will deal quickly and in a unified manner with consumer-related issues, including product safety problems and fraud.

Up to now, problems pertaining to consumers were handled by various ministries and agencies, and by their internal sections, resulting in slow and often inconsistent measures that have drawn public criticism.

Although much hope has been pinned on the new agency, its officials have been confronted with immediate challenges, including how to deal with the new Democratic Party-led administration that will come to power in late September.