GPSNR Working Groups Update: July 2023

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Strategy and Objectives Working Group:

The Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were successfully agreed upon during the June Hybrid meetings, and are awaiting review and approval for the OEMs KPI. 

In pursuit of defining targets related to member’s water withdrawal within the KPIs, surveys have been sent out. The results from the water withdrawal surveys will be analyzed and integrated into the KPIs.

ASI has been selected to develop the Assurance Model for GPSNR and has commenced discussions. ASI’s assignment for the Assurance Model involves presenting a framework proposal before the 2023 General Assembly.

The completion of the first consultation for the Due Diligence System (DDS) was completed during the June Hybrid meetings. The second round of consultations for the Due Diligence System by ZSL has been initiated. A teleconsultation, scheduled for the end of July, will provide an opportunity to discuss the feedback obtained. 

The Risk Subgroup has been working on the Traceability Pilot Field Trials, and consortiums Agridence and Koltiva have provided their midpoint updates.

ASI has finalized the initial version of the Risk Assessment Framework. Feedback has been collected to further enhance its effectiveness. Risk subgroup has extended an invitation to ASI to disclose the underlying formula of the Risk Assessment Framework. The initial trial of pre-setting Indonesia’s Risk level using the ASI risk tool has been completed. The results will aid in evaluating the feasibility of setting risk levels for 20 countries, with members’ feedback actively being incorporated to enhance user-friendliness.

Discussions between the Basel Institute and the Risk subgroup have commenced, this collaboration aims to investigate corruption risks within the supply chain.

The submission of Agridence and Koltiva’s final reports for the Traceability Enhancement will happen at the end of July. Subsequently, work will commence on fleshing out the Enhancing Traceability Report.

Smallholders Representation and Capacity Building (SCB) Working Group:

The discussion on Agroforestry Workshops for 2023-2024 has been successfully finalised. The Agroforestry-Income Diversification Taskforce will complete the contractual signing and then proceed to kick-start the preparation for agroforestry workshops in 2023-2024.

The HCSA-HCVN Field Trials task force has reviewed and provided feedback on the final report submitted by Daemeter. Additionally, the HCSA-HCVN Field Trials task force will revise and prepare to submit their final report.

The Thailand Agroforestry project has presented a progress report covering March to May 2023. The team is actively preparing for upcoming training sessions with smallholders.

The Indonesia National Subgroup will present quarterly progress reports to the SCB WG for the GAP Coaching and Disease Fighting projects in early August. The Thailand National Subgroup is currently evaluating proposals for Thailand GAP Coaching.

The Smallholders Policy-Equivalent (SPE) Taskforce is aiming to obtain endorsement from the SCB WG for the final recommendations of their report in early August.

Policy Toolbox Working Group:

The Transparent Reporting Requirements (TRR) for Year 2 have been successfully agreed upon and are now pending review and approval for the OEM category.

Petra Westerlaan, the selected consultant for the Working Group (WG), proposed a quantitative orientation for the reporting matrix. This quantification approach will simplify data aggregation and streamline the evaluation of annual progress. The WG has received Petra’s proposed reporting matrix and is all set to initiate teleconsultations in the first week of August. These sessions will facilitate valuable discussions on the feedback received, ensuring achievement of the most effective reporting system.

In addition, Agridence has presented their proposal for a new reporting requirements platform. They will keep the Working Group informed about its testing, launch, and any subsequent updates.

Shared Responsibility Working Group: 

During the face-to-face meeting, the Governance and Guiding principles were presented, highlighting their importance in shaping the future direction of GPSNR. Manufacturers are now required to seek internal approval regarding the Governance Framework and subsequently provide a final version for approval to the GPSNR Executive Committee (EC) and General Assembly.

The SR WG is actively engaged in defining an inclusive shared investment framework, encompassing various forms of contribution such as in-kind support, financial contributions, and external funding. The outcomes of discussions at the Manufacturers category level will play a crucial role in shaping this framework.

Collaborating with the Secretariat and other WGs, the SR WG is committed to revamping discussions on data sharing and value transfer, recognizing their significance in achieving our objectives. These discussions will seek to optimize the sharing of data and the value derived from it.

To provide clarity and transparency, the WG aims to define the value and benefits associated with each category within GPSNR, ensuring that all stakeholders are aware of the advantages and opportunities available.

Furthermore, the WG, in collaboration with the Capacity Building WG, is working on developing a protocol to filter and evaluate proposals based on the Equity definition and the stakeholders identified by the EC. This process will ensure fair and comprehensive evaluation of proposals.

Lastly, an open co-chair position is available, and volunteers are welcomed to contribute their expertise and leadership to drive the WG forward. If you are interested in taking on this role, please step forward and join us in this important endeavour.

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Natural Rubber Supply Chain urges European Parliament not to amend essence of EUDR

PRESS RELEASE

Natural Rubber Supply Chain urges European Parliament not to amend essence of EUDR 

 

Singapore, 13 November 2024: As Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) convene to vote on 14th November on the proposed amendments to the EUDR, the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) urges them to provide legal certainty around the implementation timeline and not re-open the regulatory text.

Along with the European Tire and Rubber Manufacturers Association, GPSNR has written to the European Parliament earlier this month to ask MEPs to use the proposal for amendments solely to create certainty about the timeline and not change the substance of the regulation. 

GPSNR members represent almost 60% of the global NR demand and include OEMs, manufacturers of rubber products, producers and traders of natural rubber, smallholder farmers, and civil society. All these stakeholders have worked tirelessly and swiftly to comply with the regulation, whose original date of implementation is weeks away. 

Notwithstanding this, GPSNR believes MEPs have a key role in ensuring the European Commission uses the proposed additional 12 months for implementation to resolve the remaining issues, particularly the functioning of the information system and the necessary secondary legislation, including on the benchmarking system as well as completing the planned review of the relevant products in Annex I by June 2025. 

The natural rubber industry strongly supports the vision of the EUDR and GPSNR members have been working on committing to and implementing strong environmental and human rights related principles in their operations for a long time. These efforts need the support of a fair and transparent regulatory environment that can help the industry move further ahead on their efforts on deforestation and human rights. 

 

END

About GPSNR: 

GPSNR is an international membership driven platform set up to define sustainability for the natural rubber value chain. It brings together various stakeholders to a common ground based on fairness, equity and environmental sustainability. More on sustainablenaturalrubber.org

 

For more information, please contact:

Bani Bains

Communications Director

Email: bani.bains@gpsnr.org

Ph: +65 97268165

 

 

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GPSNR Working Groups Update: September 2022

Strategy and Objectives Working Group

The assurance model taskforce, which sits under the umbrella of this working group, worked on establishing KPIs, GPSNR and Company targets, and tasking the KPIs to other working groups, categories and members. Its other subgroup on risk is currently working on a proposal for the definition of polygons in the EU Deforestation Regulation based on a request from GPSNR member ETRMA.

Smallholder Representation Working Group

After completing its first round of pilot agroforestry workshops in Indonesia, the working group has its next round planned in Cambodia at the end of October 2022. Subsequently, they are preparing for country-based focus group discussions on the Smallholders Policy Equivalent and for the GPSNR-HCSA Smallholder Toolkit Field Trials.

Policy Toolbox Working Group

The group is working on finalizing the TORs for the Year 1 Reporting Review to be conducted in the first quarter of next year. They are also assessing if any changes to reporting framework and its details (i.e. process, extensions, questions) are needed based on the Year 1 Reporting Review results.

Capacity Building Working Group

The group is currently evaluating proposals to appoint a software developer for the second phase of the GPSNR Knowledge Sharing Platform. They will also soon be kicking off the Disease Fighting Project with SNV-IRRI in Indonesia, after having recently completed the first milestone of the SNV-Proforest GAP coaching in the country. They continue to seek members’ funding for capacity building projects in Indonesia (second stream of disease fighting) and Cote d’Ivoire (training centres). To know more, you can find the project details here.

 

Shared Responsibility Working Group

The group is working on the deliverables discussed for each of its sub working groups during the in-person meetings, and will present findings to the membership on 15th November 2022.

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