Public Health Bill means tattoos 'in safe hands'

A licensing system is to be drawn up with the tattoo and piercing industry to produce enforceable professional hygiene and health standards regarding health and hygiene by 2017.

The provisions are included in the Welsh government's Public Health Bill, which has been unveiled on Tuesday.

There are already around 350 tattoo premises with licences in Wales but 2,000 in the industry and this does not include self-taught tattooists called "scratchers".

It is a recognition that times have changed dramatically since the last legislation in the early 1980s with tattoos and piercings more popular.

There will also be a ban on intimate piercings for the under-16s.

Ministers say the industry welcomes the new system - backed up by the threat of prosecution and fines - to make it harder to become a tattooist with the need to show they are competent.

Tattooist Katan Costello, who owns the Two Hearts studio in Cardiff, said the legislation was "brilliant".