Three years ago, regarding the cloth masks distributed by the government, a university professor in Kobe City complained that it was unfair for the government not to disclose the order amount per mask. There is administrative accountability," and ordered the government to disclose it.
Three years ago, the government spent about 26 billion yen to distribute two masks to all households nationwide, for a total of 120 million cloth masks, as a countermeasure against the new coronavirus, said Professor Hiroyuki Uewaki of Kobe Gakuin University. We requested information disclosure from the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, etc. for materials that show the selection process of the supplier.
However, since the unit price and the number of orders for each supplier were blacked out because it would interfere with future price negotiations, the validity of the policy could not be verified and it was unreasonable. I was filing a lawsuit.
In the ruling on the 28th, Osaka District Court Chief Judge Jun Tokuchi said, ``Even if the unit price and the number of orders are made public, information about the company's sales know-how will be revealed, and there will be a competitive disadvantage. I can't," he pointed out.
In addition, he ordered the government to disclose the blackened parts, saying, ``The government is accountable for the use of tax money for goods purchased by the government under a non-discretionary contract.''
Professor Kamiwaki said, ``It was a natural decision, and the government may have decided to 'hide it' first. "I'm talking.
Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare ``The content of the harsh judgment that the claim was not accepted''
Regarding the ruling, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare commented, ``We believe that the content of the ruling is harsh because the claim is not accepted.