The Sale of Goods Act was introduced in 1979 to protect consumers in the purchases they made. It was updated and amended in 1994 (Sale and Supply of Goods Act 1994) and again in 2002 (Sale and Supply of Goods Act to Consumer Regulations 2002) to take into account consumers purchasing goods in other European countries.

The main aim of the latest amendment was to encourage people to shop across borders and know that there is some legal recourse if they are problems with faulty goods.