Health committee rejects sunbed ban

Parliament's health committee has recommended a ban on UV tanning services be limited to those under 18. Photo / Getty Images

There will be no outright ban on commercial sunbeds despite pleas from organisations including the Cancer Society and Consumer NZ.

Parliament's health committee has recommended a ban on UV tanning services be limited to those under 18.

"We are satisfied that the bill as introduced would protect the vulnerable under-18 age group and allow adults to make informed decisions about sunbed use in an environment of improved operator compliance," the committee's report on the Health (Protection) Amendment Bill stated.

People can buy cigarettes and tobacco at 18, the committee noted, a recognition that it is an age at which people are capable of making their own choices.

Labour, NZ First and the Green Party argued in a minority view that tanning beds "are not safe and offer no health benefits" and their use before 35 increases the risk of melanoma every year. Labour health spokeswoman Annette King said the select committee had not heeded the advice of numerous health professionals.

That included the Cancer Society and Consumer NZ, which found many operators ignoring voluntary safety guidelines.

"Australia have banned them, we were told that Ireland are banning them ... all the respectable and valued health professionals were opposed to it.

"I know the Ministry [of Health] are opposed to it but are too gutless to say what they want to say."

Kirsty Ethynes, a director of Beta Life International, which offers sunbed services, said the attitude of opposition parties was disappointing.

"We would just follow the Australian experience which pushes sunbeds into the unregulated home environment."