A First Look at GPSNR’s second Executive Committee

Natural rubber faces a similar set of environmental, social and economic issues as other agricultural commodities such as palm oil, but the spotlight on sustainability has only been recently turned towards this key raw material, 70% of which goes into tire production. The launch of GPSNR marked a significant step towards developing sustainable standards for natural rubber, with member organizations making a commitment to 12 Sustainable Natural Rubber Principles. 

The Policy Toolbox Working Group was established to develop a guiding framework for GPSNR members to implement policies and practices that align with the 12 Principles. Two key documents, the Policy Components and Baseline Reporting Requirements, have emerged after a year of discussion and drafting. 

The Policy Components outline specific commitments that GPSNR company members should include in their sustainable natural rubber policies, while the  Baseline Reporting Requirements indicate qualitative and quantitative sustainability data to be reported to the Secretariat for the first year of reporting.

A members webinar was held on 16 June, where the Co-Chairs of the Policy Toolbox Working Group explained the purpose, process and next steps surrounding the two documents. 

Several members have volunteered to participate in an ongoing pilot testing of the Baseline Reporting Requirements. The goal of the pilot is to refine and finalize the Baseline Reporting Requirements based on company feedback.

The proposed Policy Components and Baseline Reporting Requirements are now open for member consultation until 3 July 2020.

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

An important milestone of the month has been the recruitment of the Assurance Model taskforce, which will be working through the September 2022 hybrid meetings to finalise the design of the GPSNR Assurance Model. Additionally, the risk subgroup is looking for a consultant to review and revise the current Risk Analysis document. Should you know anyone fit for the job, the RFP is available here.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

In August 2022, the smallholder representation working group organised an onboarding workshop for 24 smallholders in Malaysia.. They are now preparing for the first round of focus group discussions on the smallholder policy equivalent, and will continue preparing for GPSNR-HCSA Smallholder Toolkit Field Trials as well as the Pilot Agroforestry Workshops in Indonesia and Cambodia.

Policy Toolbox Working Group

This working group has developed and finalise the template for upstream questionnaires to support the reporting of Manufacturers and End Users. They are working to finalise language for 7.1 and 7.2 of the Implementation Guidance, and to finalise the Compliance Panel Guidance. On the Reporting, the WG is preparing the ground for Year 1 Reporting Review and developing the Transparent Reporting Roadmap for Years 2 and 3. They will also liaise with the smallholder representation working group on the smallholder policy equivalent as it continues to develop.

Capacity Building Working Group

This working group has released an RFP for the development of the Knowledge Sharing Platform digital  application, while also completing a report by the Knowledge Sharing Platform Task Force on digital needs assessment for smallholders. . They are also busy in continuing to advance Capacity Building plans for Indonesia, Thailand, Ivory Coast, having advanced substantially on disease fighting and GAP coaching in Indonesia.

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The working group has completed call for volunteers for different pillars: Shared Investment; Value Transfer and Target Setting; Knowledge and Data Sharing. They will be creating subgroups for each pillar, and are calling for volunteers to co-chair each subgroup so do share your interest!