Summary
The Ministry of Health has been concerned about the promotion and use of sunbeds in New Zealand for some time. Exposure to sunbeds poses a significant risk of skin cancer to users, as well as risk of burns to skin and eyes, ageing and photosensitivity reactions in the skin. Therefore, the Ministry is consulting on proposals to introduce new regulations to protect the public from harm from commercial sunbeds.
The consultation document proposes regulations that would:
- license sunbed premises and businesses that hire out sunbeds, as well as staff that either operate the sunbed or set them up in people’s homes
- set mandatory operational practices for sunbed premises and businesses that hire out sunbeds.
The consultation document also canvasses other policy options that were considered for reducing the harms posed by sunbeds.
The proposals complement a Bill proposing to ban the provision of sunbed services to people under 18 years of age.
A regulatory impact statement was developed to inform policy development.
Written submissions are sought from all interested stakeholders. All feedback will be considered and used to inform final policy development in 2016.
This consultation has now closed
Submissions closed for this consultation on Friday 12 February 2016.