The government said Wednesday it will scrap the Large-Scale Retail Stores Law law, which restricts operations of large-scale retailers, and implement new rules to protect the surrounding neighborhood when new large retail stores are opened.

The move, aimed at replacing existing economic regulations with social restrictions, is in line with a final report by a joint government panel under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. The report says the law, which is intended to protect small retailers by limiting the operations of large retailers, should be replaced by new policies that meet the needs of local communities and residents.

It calls for the creation of a new mechanism to prevent the possible negative effect of the opening of large stores, such as traffic congestion, noise and garbage problems. The panel says the national government should base the mechanism on fair and transparent standards, while local governments should be given authority to handle individual cases based on those standards.

MITI said it will submit a bill to the Diet during the session starting next month for a new law on the location of large-scale retail stores. The Construction Ministry, closely involved in the issue, said in a related move that it will submit a bill to revise either the City Planning Law or other relevant laws to provide greater flexibility in land use.

When the new laws would be put into effect or the Large-Scale Retail Stores Law abolished will be determined later, officials said.

The panel is recommending that plans by a large retailer to open a store with total floor space exceeding 1,000 sq. meters should be studied for their environmental impact.