A Tauranga sunbed operator thinks an outright ban on commercial sunbeds will do nothing more than take vital power away from the Ministry of Health and drive the operation underground.

Earlier this week, Consumer NZ and the Cancer Society became the latest organisations to call for a ban on commercial sunbeds.

Consumer NZ and the Cancer Society are the latest organisations to call for a ban on commercial sunbeds.

Despite supporting amendments to the Health (Protection) Amendment Bill banning the provision of sunbed services to under-18s, both argue that the ban does not go far enough.

The pair made the appeal in submissions presented to Parliament's health committee yesterday, which is considering legislation which would ban commercial artificial UV tanning services for people under 18.

But Forever Suntanz owner Yo Roberts doesn't agree a blanket ban is the best course of action, and suggests higher penalties and higher policing of current regulations would be of greater benefit.

The Otumoetai business, one of two sunbed operators in Tauranga, currently turns over more than 600 sunbed sessions a week across four modern sunbeds, and the ban would be detrimental to Yo's business.

'At the moment it's booming,: he says, 'and it's doing well because it is regulated and people know it's safer with time limits and better sunbeds.

'If operators specialise in sunbeds and it is their core business, they will be more than happy for it to be policed because they aren't going to break those rules.”

Comparing it to the hospitality industry, Yo says any café not adhering to health and safety regulations will either be fined or shut down, as opposed to a blanket ban on all cafes.

And if the sunbed ban was to be put in place, it would do nothing more than drive sunbeds underground, providing an increased level of risk, adds Yo.

'That demand doesn't go away,” he explains. 'They will either go to the beach and get burnt, or they buy a sunbed, put it in their garage and do whatever they like.

'Banning sunbeds is actually allowing the Ministry of Health to lose control. Now they have regulated it they have full control and can tell me what to do.”

But Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin says the organisation consumer has been surveying sunbed businesses for over a decade and the results have been alarming.

Brazil and most states in Australia had introduced bans on commercial solariums in an attempt to reduce rates of skin cancer, and New Zealand should follow suit, says Sue.

In 2012, mystery shoppers visited 60 sunbed operators in 12 city centres across New Zealand.

They booked a session before carrying out their assessment in the privacy of the tanning cubicle without using the sunbed. At the end of the appointment, they asked when they could come for their next session.

According to the report there were four commercial sunbed operators in Tauranga in 2012; Foerever Suntanz (Otumoetai), Global Fitness and Minx Beauty (Mount Maunganui), and Simply Beautiful, (Papamoa).

At the time the report showed two-thirds of sunbed operators surveyed nationwide failed to meet voluntary industry safety requirements.

In Tauranga three operators scored perfect or near perfect results, but Global Fitness failed three of the eight safety requirements.

Global Fitness failed the consent form, skin assessment and follow-up session while Minx Beauty failed the eye protection survey.

When contacted today, a Global Fitness spokesperson confirms their single sunbed has since been sold, while Minx Beauty's webpage outlines that only a spray tan operation now exists.

Cancer Society chief executive Claire Austin says New Zealand has the highest skin cancer rate in the world.

'Skin cancer, our most common cancer, comes at a cost of over $123 million to our health system each year,” says Claire. 'Yet over 90 per cent of skin cancers are preventable.

'We need to be doing as much as we can to ensure fewer New Zealanders are affected by the burden. Banning sunbeds is a good step.”