International Trade Law: Sale of Goods Act in Australia, Canada, UK

This essay provides an overview of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 and its impact on international trade law, focusing on the legal framework governing the sale of goods in Australia, Canada, and England, with references to the UK's Sale of Goods Act 1893. The paper defines key terms like 'buyer' and 'seller' and explains the act's role in regulating contracts and establishing implied terms. It explores the responsibilities of the seller, the impact of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods, and the implications of the 'perfect tender rule.' The essay also examines termination clauses, conditions, and warranties, including breaches, damages, and relevant case law like Rowland v. Divall and Beale v. Taylor. It concludes by summarizing the act's guidelines and the influence of international conventions on cross-border transactions, emphasizing the protection of buyer interests.

Running Head: INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
INTERNATIONAL TRADE LAW
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The legislation of sale of goods in Australia Canada and England is based on the sale of
goods act 1893(UK). The Sale of Goods Act 1979 is a statute of UK1. It is to be mentioned that
the sale of goods act regulates the terms of the contract by which goods are bought and sold. The
Sale of Goods Act serves a variety of functions and has many implications in reality. For the
purpose of clearly defining sale of goods act it is to be clearly mentioned that Sale of Goods act
basically acts as a contract in which the seller transfers the ownership in the property to the buyer
for a stipulated amount called consideration. Buyer, according to the act can be defined as a
person who agrees to buy any property from the seller and seller is the person who transfers the
property to the buyer for the consideration.
It is to be stated that the sale of goods act lays down a list of compulsory regulations and
legal rules which are concerned with the implied terms and presumptions of the contract. The
legal rules and the regulations governed by the sale of goods act aim to provide a reflection of
the commercial expectations in common sales contract. It can be said that if the contract
between the buyer and the seller does not state otherwise, the terms of the sale of goods act will
be imposed on the contract. The seller has been given more responsibility by the law as it is
expected that the buyer will rely on the honesty and integrity of the seller while purchasing the
goods.
The sale of goods act 1979 later codified the original sale of goods act 1893. It is to be
noted that law in relation to governing the relationship between the parties has been left
untouched so that the buyer and the seller can decide their own terms of the agreement. Thus the
act of codifying the original sale of goods act did not impinge the autonomy f the parties2. The
1 'Sale Of Goods Act 1979' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018) <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54> accessed 5
March 2018
2 Howells, Geraint, and Stephen Weatherill. Consumer protection law. Routledge, 2017.

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parties who entered into commercial contracts were believed to be the best judges of the
obligation to be imposed upon either of them for the stipulated consideration. The statute sale of
goods act was drafted from the perspective of the buyer and aims to uphold and safeguard the
interest of the buyer in general contracts of sale of goods.
It can be said that judicial intervention is required in most cases in order to determine the
intention of the parties while entering into the contract the courts are allowed to apply their
philosophies for the purpose of determining the intention of the parties. The United Nations
Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods 3 has also had significant impact on the
relationship between the parties to a contract of sale of goods. To provide comparison between
the convention and the sale of goods act it is essential to test the current law against the
convention. It is also important to assess whether a rule which would allow the parties to
terminate or reject the terms of the contract should be incorporated in the contract of sale of
goods. Such termination or rejection of the terms of the contract by either of the parties would is
in favor of the buyer as it will enable the buyer to reject the goods if they do not comply with the
terms of the contract even if goods even if the tender accords with terms of the contract.
However it is detrimental to the rights of the seller.
According to4 it is important to have consideration for the relation which is shared
between the regime of rejection and termination and the regime which governs the exercise of
rights. The perfect tender rule in relation to sale of goods in commercial context is in de facto
operations in Australia and England. This rule is applied in most cases as it is easy to provide
3 (1980)
4 Johnson, Jeff S., and Ravipreet S. Sohi. "Understanding and resolving major contractual breaches in buyer–seller
relationships: a grounded theory approach." Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science 44.2 (2016): 185-205.

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justification for terminating a sale of goods if there is a breach of a contract term rather than the
breach of seller’s express obligation for providing the buyer with quality product or buyer’s
obligation for paying the stipulated consideration in time.
It is to be mentioned that provision of termination is available under the provisions of
general law in Canada, England and Australia. However such termination clause will depend on
the conditions as enumerated below:
 Express right of the parties to terminate the contract which is to be activated by the
breach of the obligations of either of the parties which acts as a clause of termination
 Breach of any term of the contract which might be implied of express if such contract
term was classified as a condition of the contract
 Omission of performance of obligation by either of the parties.
The express right for termination and Rejection is introduced by the cancellation clause.
However rights related to cancellation are additionally conferred by legislation. In order to have
a better understanding of breach of a condition it is essential to identify when a condition is to be
treated as a contingency. However assessing a condition as a contingency can be an uncertain
event. It can be said that when the obligation of one party to fulfill a duty is dependent on the
fulfillment of a contingency as promised by the other party such a term can be defined as a
condition. Breach of such condition gives right to the former party to terminate the contract.
The right of a party to terminate a contract in case of breach of intermediate term has been
introduced to enable courts to assess whether the terms of the contract is possible of being
breached in several ways. Breach of performance of duty by the promisor is given importance

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than breach of the term itself. The right of terminating the contract is granted to the party if the
breach of the terms of the contract is fundamental.
The sale of goods act implies terms into contract. Any breach of terms entitles the innocent
party to claim damages from the defendant for the loss sustained by him. According to5 buyer
has the right to claim damages for breach of warranties if there is a breach of implied terms in
relation to quality, description of the product. Section 12(1) of the Sale of Goods Act 1979 states
that in case of the agreement to sell, the seller will be granted the right to sell the goods at the
time when the property is to pass 6. It is also to be stated that in case of a sale a condition is
implied that the seller is granted the right to sell the property if any adverse circumstances do not
arise as held in the remarkable case Rowland v Divall7. According to section 13(1) of the
aforementioned act it can be stated that the goods sold by description must correspond with the
description provided to the buyer at the time of selling the goods. The case Beale v Taylor 8is a
classic example of goods to be sold by description. It was illustrated in the case Harlington v
Christopher Hull (1990) that the implied condition of sale of goods by description can be
breached by the buyer if such buyer purchased the goods in reliance of the description of the
goods.
Thus to conclude it can be said that the Sale of Goods Act 1979 provides general
guidelines about the relationship between the parties to the contract. The sale of goods act
however leaves scope for amending the terms of by the parties as it has been held that the parties
are the best judges of the contract to be entered into by them. The United Nations Convention on
5 McKendrick, Ewan. Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press (UK), 2014.
6 'Sale Of Goods Act 1979' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018) <https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54> accessed 5
March 2018
7 (1923)
8 (1967)

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Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (1980) also impacts the sale of goods across
international borders. The Sale of Goods Act 1979 was originally drafted to safeguard the
interest of the buyer in the property.

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Bibliography
'Sale Of Goods Act 1979' (Legislation.gov.uk, 2018)
<https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/54> accessed 5 March 2018
Harlington v Christopher Hull (1990)
Beale v Taylor (1967)
Rowland v Divall (1923)
Howells, Geraint, and Stephen Weatherill. Consumer protection law. Routledge, 2017.
McKendrick, Ewan. Contract law: text, cases, and materials. Oxford University Press (UK),
2014.
Johnson, Jeff S., and Ravipreet S. Sohi. "Understanding and resolving major contractual
breaches in buyer–seller relationships: a grounded theory approach." Journal of the Academy of
Marketing Science 44.2 (2016): 185-205.
United Nations Convention on Contracts for International Sale of Goods (1980)