Thursday, 09. February 2012

:: Home > General News > New law bans Under-18s from solariums

M	T	W	T	F	S	S
30	31	1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	1	2	3	4

Add your event FREE

Today

Polls

01. 09. 10. - 12:00

New law bans Under-18s from solariums

Austrian teenagers are banned from tanning shops as of today (Weds) amid skin cancer fears.

The law preventing Under-18s from using tanning salons in the country was agreed upon by all five parties represented in the Austrian parliament last year.

The government stressed managers of solariums, hotel bosses and other businessmen face fines of up to 2,180 Euros if they ignored the new ruling.

Authorities pointed out it was not enough to put up posters informing customers about the restrictions. Managers must check young people�s IDs to ensure the law is considered, they added.

The parliament�s decision is based on studies by European Union (EU) experts showing that excessive tanning drastically increases the risk of getting skin cancer.

Last November�s 15-hour debate of the topic reached a rather amusing climax when Alliance for the Future of Austria (BZ�) MP Stefan Petzner spoke up.

The well-tanned former spokesman of late BZ� founder J�rg Haider said he supported the new ruling to protect teenagers � but added "30 to 50" tanning sessions were healthy for adults.

Stick-thin Petzner, who labelled himself as "Austria�s most popular solarium user", was subsequently reprimanded by Social Democratic (SP�) parliamentary president Barbara Prammer for revealing his favourite sunbed manufacturer.

Petzner headed the BZ� for a brief period after Haider�s death in 2008, but was replaced by Josef Bucher amid fears that his emotional dealing with the right-wing icon�s disease could worsen the party�s reputation.

Austrian Times

Write your comment to this article here

Tag cloud:
skin solarium sessions user solariums parliament Haider popular founder subsequently Democratic teenagers Social banned spokesman reprimanded tanning cancer Austrian Petzner

Latest News

Set up tax on financial transactions soon, says Katzian
The head of the Association of Private Employees (GPA-djp) has called for a quick introduction of a tax on financial transactions.

P�hringer rejects U-turn on rightist ball
Young Social Democrats (SP�) have appealed to Upper Austrian Governor Josef P�hringer not to attend the Burschenbundball in Linz this Saturday.

FP� under fire after trip to Grozny
The Freedom Party (FP�) has been harshly criticised for meeting with Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov.

WKO boss wants pension age hike incentives
Federal Economy Chamber (WKO) President Christoph Leitl has identified attempts to raise the average retirement age as the key issue regarding Austria�s budget.

Woman and child run over in Vienna
A woman and child have died in a road accident in Vienna, Austria. The lorry driver was making a right turn when he drove into a group of pedestrians leaving a 59-year-old and a 12-year-old dead. The mother of the school girl was left with serious injuries.

Schlecker says Austrian jobs are safe
The son of Schlecker founder Anton Schlecker has claimed that the company has no plans to sell its Austrian affiliate.

SP� sees smaller parliament as key signal
The general secretary of the Social Democrats (SP�) has argued his support for a reduction of the size of the parliament.

Austrian food to feature in organic trade fair
Austria is expected to be well represented at next week�s BioFach 2012 international organic trade fair in Nuremberg, Germany. Some 90 companies and organisations from the Austrian organic good sector will feature at the fair from 15 to 18 February.

Brothel for the homeless in Vienna
Homeless people are queueing up for free rooms in an Austrian brothel after owner Peter Laskaris said it would be unfair not to do everything he could during the current cold spell.

Deep-freeze snacks for orangutans in Sch�nbrunn
The lucky orangutans who take up residence in Europe�s oldest zoo have been indulging in a twice weekly take-away. Despite the trees in Sch�nbrunn Zoo in Vienna, Austria now being completely bare the fury friends have fresh branches and leaves delivered twice a week.