The Japanese government is looking to pass a responsible gambling bill before the end of its ordinary session. The Diet’s ongoing legislative session is set to be closed on June 18.
However, many believe that lawmakers will find it difficult to make the desired progress on the bill by the above date.
It became clear in early 2017 that members of the Diet were planning to craft a bill that would aim to address issues related to gambling addiction and their prevention among Japanese gambling customers. A draft of the bill was introduced in mid-May by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, with lawmakers affirming their intent to pass the bill before the end of the legislative session.
According to reports from local media, the draft legislation does not encompass particular provisions on how to combat social issues arising from gambling, but rather urges the government to take due measures to reduce gambling addiction rates.
Betting on horse, boat, and bicycle races, lotteries, football pools as well as slots-like machines, known as pachinko, are the only legal gambling options in Japan at present. These are regulated by separate bodies and the implementation of a single bill addressing gambling-related issues in different gambling industries may cause certain implications. This is mainly due to the fact that some of the country’s gambling industries have previously advocated against too stringent regulations.
It is believed that once and if the bill is passed, it will trigger a process of the creation of new regulations that will task separate businesses, gambling regulators, and officials from administrative divisions with different responsibilities related to the protection of gambling customers from gambling addiction.
Financial services firm Morgan Stanley said in a recent note that if the Diet manages to pass the bill before the end of the ordinary legislative session, this will be indicative of its level of commitment to passing the so-called Integrated Resorts Implementation Bill before the end of the year.
Japan legalized casino gambling late last year by passing the long-discussed Integrated Resorts Promotion Bill. The move put the beginning of a legalization process that is expected to be completed with the approval with the Implementation Bill. The aforementioned legislative piece will, among other things, set the regulations under which Japan’s casino industry will be managed and will provide information about the preferred locations for up to two integrated resorts and the casino operators that will be selected to be in charge of those.
The bill is currently being devised by a specially assembled unit and more details about it are expected to emerge in August. The piece is hoped to be voted on and approved during an extraordinary session, set to take place in the fourth quarter of the year.
