The Cabinet approved a bill Tuesday to revise the law covering the sex industry, featuring a measure against human-trafficking that would require operators of such businesses to confirm that foreign women employed for "entertainment services" have work permits.

A similar bill was scheduled for deliberations in the previous Diet session, but the House of Representatives was dissolved for the Sept. 11 general election before the debate could take place.

The bill to revise the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses also features measures to punish those responsible for distributing sex service fliers in home mailboxes and those advertising unauthorized sex businesses.

Violations would incur a fine of up to 1 million yen. There currently is no penalty.

Harsher penalties are included for such violations as running a sex parlor in a prohibited area. Imprisonment of up to six months could be imposed on an operator of a sex business who fails to report to the authorities.

Under the current law, this violation carries only a fine.

To combat exploitation of children for sex, penalties would be hiked for those who employ people under 18 in the sex industry or allow them as customers.

Conspiracy bill

The government endorsed a bill Tuesday to revise the organized crime punishment law to define conspiracy as a punishable crime, even if a crime is not carried out.

The bill, approved at a Cabinet meeting, was initially submitted to the Diet in 2003 after Japan signed in December 2000 the U.N. Convention against Transnational Organized Crime aimed at tackling international organized crime, including terrorism.

The bill has been carried over to succeeding Diet sessions for further deliberations due to opposition by opposition parties and civic groups that have claimed it is vague on the conditions of conspiracy and may violate human rights.