Consumer Protection Act (Quebec) this (similarly to, say, the Unfair Terms in Consumer Contracts Regulations 1999 in the United Kingdom). In the 1960s, consumerism became prominent in the United States, after its industrialisation. Market economies flourished. The consumer movement was a response in Europe, and in Canada, to what was perceived as overwhelming market forces to the detriment of the consumer. In Quebec, the emergence of a consumerist movement cast a light on the absence of consumer protection laws, notably the lack of legal obligations for businesses: the law was "caveat emptor", let the buyer beware. But slowly, laws were introduced, culminating in the
Caveat emptor defects or otherwise made material misrepresentations amounting to fraud. Before statutory law, the buyer had no express warranty ensuring the quality of goods. In the UK, common law requires that goods must be "fit for the particular purpose" and of "merchantable quality", per Section 15 of the Sale of Goods Act but this implied warranty can be difficult to enforce and may not apply to all products. Hence, buyers are still advised to be cautious. The modern trend in the U.S. is that the implied warranty of fitness for a particular purpose applies in the real-estate context to only the