A Commerce Commission report has cleared the Cancer Society of false advertising on its sunscreen product, but instead found that laboratory testing procedures need to be reviewed.
The society says it was always certain its SPF 30+ sunscreen was effective despite Consumer New Zealand's claims in February that it had a sun protection factor of only 23.
The report, released on Wednesday, found that neither party was right nor wrong because of inaccuracies in testing procedures.
The commission compared results from several Australian laboratories which tested the product and says they varied too much to be deemed accurate.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration believes there may be as much as a five-point margin under the current standard and is reviewing the testing regime.
Consumer New Zealand, formerly the Consumers' Institute, welcomes a review.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration considers a product claiming an SPF of 30+ should return an average test of 35 under current testing procedures.
