Clothing retailer Gap has issued a report listing work-force violations at many of the factories worldwide that make clothing for its Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic chains.
The 2003 "social responsibility" report, attempts to highlight the company's efforts to improve garment factory conditions and labour standards, and counteract its reputation as an employer of sweatshop labor.
Gap, like most major apparel companies in the United States, sells merchandise produced by third-party garment manufacturers. It uses 3,000 factories in about 50 countries, mostly developing nations.
In 1996 Gap developed a Code of Vendor Conduct prohibiting child labor, forced labour and discrimination, and protecting freedom of association and other rights, the company said.
It employs a group of vendor compliance officers who attempt to visit and evaluate every factory, every year.
"Few factories, if any, are in full compliance all of the time," the report said.
In 2003 Gap terminated business with 136 factories for serious or excessive breaches of the code, it said. Greater China and southeast Asia each had 42 of those terminated factories. The Indian subcontinent had 31, and Europe, including Russia, had nine.
The report includes a chart showing the frequency of various types of violations by region.
Gap said violations of health and safety are cited frequently because they are often temporary and they are easy for monitors to spot.
It said violations of local law are also frequent because the laws are unclear, contradictory, or obscure, and government enforcement may be insufficient or nonexistent.
Other relatively common violations include poor age documentation, excessive hours, and unclear wage statements.
Gap said some types of violations, such as freedom of association and discrimination, are especially difficult to uncover and prove. It believes these violations are more widespread than its data suggests.