The Quality of Goods and Services

European Community law is at the heart of sales law which is itself the cornerstone of private law. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 implies terms governing the quality of goods supplied. Services are also dealt with in the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. It is important to differentiate the various legal forms of consumer transactions in order to determine which legislation governs the transaction at hand. These laws are important for regulation of the quality of goods and services because they imply terms about quality. The common law had implied terms into hire-purchase contracts similar to those implied into sale contracts; these were placed on a statutory footing by the Supply of Goods (Implied Terms) Act 1973. The implied term is a technique of the common law. Other countries laid down minimum quality standards often with very similar objectives, but using different legal mechanisms.