The Consumer Protection Act 1987 (c 43) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which made important changes to the consumer law of the United Kingdom. Part 1 implemented European Community (EC) Directive 85/374/EEC, the product liability directive, by introducing a regime of strict liability for damage arising from defective products. Part 2 created government powers to regulate the safety of consumer products through Statutory Instruments. Part 3 defined a criminal offence of giving a misleading price indication.

The Act was notable in that it was the first occasion that the UK government implemented an EC directive through an Act of Parliament rather than an order under the European Communities Act 1972.

Section 2 imposes civil liability in tort for damage caused wholly or partly by a defect in a product. Liability falls on:

Liability is strict, and there is no need to demonstrate fault or negligence on behalf of the producer. Liability cannot be "written out" by an exclusion clause (s.7)

Damage includes (s.5):

— but damage to the product itself is excluded, as are other forms of pure economic loss.

A "product" is any goods or electricity and includes products aggregated into other products, whether as component parts, raw materials or otherwise (s.1(2)(c)) though a supplier of the aggregate product is not liable simply on the basis of that fact (s.1(3)). Buildings and land are not included but construction materials such as bricks and girders are. Information and software are not included though printed instructions and embedded software are relevant to the overall safety of a product.

The original Act did not apply to unprocessed game or agricultural produce (s.2(4)) but this exception was repealed on 4 December 2000 to comply with EU Directive 1999/34/EC which was enacted because of fears over BSE.