A consumer lobby group is renewing calls for sunbed operators to be licensed after undercover checks found some operators failed to comply with voluntary safety standards.
Consumer New Zealand visited 69 operators nationwide and found 90% were not observing the standards.
The watchdog says only seven sunbed outlets met all the standards which include providing customers with a skin assessment, eye protection and information on the risk of skin cancer.
Consumer chief executive Sue Chetwin says sunbed operators should have a compulsory code of practice, as surveys since 2005 show they have continuously failed to implement voluntary standards.
Ms Chetwin says most Australian states have restrictions on the use of sunbeds.
The Indoor Tanning Association says it would welcome a compulsory code of practice for sunbed operators if the industry can be involved in its formulation.
A spokesperson, Matt Adams, says the sunbed industry can not be expected to comply with voluntary standards that it did not help to create.
Listen to more