The Food and Drug Administration is proposing new rules for the sunscreen industry. The rules would take effect in 2009 at the earliest and would govern the ingredients, labeling and testing of sunscreens.

The FDA officials are proposing the rules to target sunscreens that claim protection against the sun's ultraviolet A and B rays.

The rules would stay in effect for SPF, or sun protection factor rating, but would redefine the testing criteria. The proposal calls for limiting the claims companies can make for products rated SPF 50-plus, unless further testing is conducted.

Most brands promise broad protection, but really only filter out UVB rays. The proposal requires companies to analyze UVA protection before making any claims to their product's effectiveness against those rays. It proposes UVA rankings such as low, medium, high and highest, or no protection, be put on the bottles by using stars.

Ratings would be based on two tests: one that would measure the product's ability to reduce UVAs that pass through it, and a second that would measure its effectiveness to prevent tanning.