【JFTC Organizational Structure for FY2026】Statement by the Secretary General at a regular press conference (April 8, 2026)

JFTC Organizational Structure for FY2026

Today, I would like to talk about the JFTC’s organizational structure for FY2026, including the establishment of a Senior Officer for Fair Transactions Inspection (Tentative Translation).

The Japan Fair Trade Commission (JFTC) has implemented various initiatives to achieve appropriate price pass-through, including strengthening the enforcement of the Subcontract Act. In response to the recent sharp increases in labor costs, raw material prices, and energy costs, the Subcontract Act was amended in May 2025 to promote price pass-through and fair transactions, and entered into force as the SME Transactions Act on January 1, 2026. Accordingly, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the amendment, it is necessary to establish a framework for strict and agile law enforcement under the SME Transactions Act.

Furthermore, ensuring fair transactions throughout the entire supply chain in Japan requires the mutually complementary enforcement of not only the SME Transactions Act, but also the regulation against abuse of a superior bargaining position under the Antimonopoly Act and the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators.

To this end, the JFTC planned to develop in FY2026 an organizational structure to promote initiatives to ensure fair transactions. Following the approval of the FY2026 budget on April 7, effective today, the JFTC has newly established at its headquarters a Senior Officer for Fair Transactions Inspection (Tentative Translation) post at the director level. In addition, three existing positions at the same level have been reassigned and one new position has been created, resulting in a total of four positions under the title of Senior Fair Transactions Inspector (Tentative Translation).

As a result, the Senior Officer for Fair Transactions Inspection (Tentative Translation) will centrally oversee both the enforcement of the SME Transactions Act, which had previously been carried out under the Director of the Fair Transactions Research Office, and the enforcement of the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators, which had previously been carried out under the Director of the Office of Ensuring Fair Transactions Involving Freelance Contractors. The Office of Ensuring Fair Transactions Involving Freelance Contractors will continue to be responsible for policy planning, public awareness activities, and consultation services relating to the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators.

At the local offices as well, one post titled Senior Officer for Fair Transactions (Tentative Translation), at the same level as a director at headquarters, has been newly established in each of the Chubu Office, the Kinki–Chugoku–Shikoku Office, and the Kyushu Office, for a total of three new positions. As a result, Senior Officers dedicated to overseeing both the Fair Transactions Research Division, which enforces the SME Transactions Act, and the Freelance Division, which enforces the Act on Ensuring Proper Transactions Involving Specified Entrusted Business Operators, will be assigned to these offices, replacing the previous arrangement under which such oversight was handled by the Co-ordination Supervisors. This will strengthen the enforcement framework for both Acts.

As for the number of officials, the JFTC will increase the number of officials by a total of 63 in FY2026, consisting of 59 officials related to promoting initiatives to ensure fair transactions and 4 officials for measures including reinforcement of foundations for operation of competition policy. As a result, the total number of officials in the Secretariat will be 995 at the end of FY2026.

To explain in more detail the increase in the number of officials related to promoting initiatives to ensure fair transactions, at the JFTC headquarters, the number of Fair Transactions Inspectors has been increased by 24 as part of the organizational measures to strengthen the enforcement framework after the SME Transactions Act came into force. At the local offices, the number of officials has also been increased by a total of 27, consisting of 17 Fair Transactions Investigators and 10 Price Pass-Through Facilitation Investigators.

Furthermore, at three of the local offices—the Kinki–Chugoku–Shikoku Office, the Chubu Office and the Kyushu Office—a Senior Officer for Fair Transactions (Tentative Translation) post and a Fair Transactions Research Division II have been newly established. In addition, a Freelance Division has been newly established in the Chugoku and Shikoku Branches.

In addition, the FY2026 budget includes the necessary funding to increase the number of part-time officials engaged in promoting price pass-through and fair transactions, namely: