Gap suspends use of Indian vendors, India labels move protectionist

Gap suspends use of Indian vendors, India labels move protectionist Gap Inc., a major global clothing retailer, said Sunday it has suspended sourcing operations in India pending an investigation into violation of child labor laws at a manufacturing site near New Delhi.
   International news outlets reported Monday that Gap made the decision after a investigative report by the British newspaper The Observer found that children as young as 10 were making smocked shirts for the store's retail outlets.
   Other allegations include abuse of underage workers, as well as charges that one child was sold by his family to the owners of a factory in the Shahpur Jat area of Delhi.
   Indian commerce officials reacted angrily to the unilateral decision by Gap, saying it seemed as though the timing of the ban — just two months before Christmas — was timed to pacify those in the West who argue that too many manufacturing jobs have left North America and Europe for poorer Asian nations.
   'I have already written to EU trade commission Peter Mandelson about non-tariff barriers being used as a protectionist device,' India Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told the Times of India.
   In a statement, Gap said 'The charge involves an order that a vendor appears to have subcontracted out to an unauthorized subcontractor in direct violation of our agreement.'