GPSNR Working Groups Update: May 2023

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Strategy and Objectives Working Group: The consortium of Agridence and Koltiva have initiated field trials for the Risk Subgroup Traceability Pilot. The Risk Subgroup is also planning the next steps for the deliverable from ASI regarding the Risk Assessment Framework, including internal piloting and cross-walking with GPSNR commissioned studies to identify any gaps.

Additionally, the Risk Subgroup and Basel Institution are in preliminary discussions for a potential collaboration to investigate corruption risk in the supply chain. The Assurance Model Task force will convene to receive updates on KPI alignments, the due diligence system, and the progress model of its members.

Smallholders Representation and Capacity Building (SCB) Working Group: The SCB WG has formally endorsed the Terms of Reference (TORs) on April 27, and the Smallholders Policy-Equivalent (SPE) Taskforce is currently working towards securing the SCB WG’s endorsement for the final recommendations presented in their report.

The Thailand National Subgroup recently announced a tender for GAP Coaching on May 4, with a proposal submission deadline of June 30, 2023. Meanwhile, the Agroforestry-Income Diversification Taskforce is working on finalising the workshop schedule for the years 2023-2024. Lastly, the SCB WG will continue to oversee all projects taking place in Indonesia and Thailand.

Policy Toolbox Working Group: The working group has chosen consultant Petra Westerlaan to propose a quantitative approach for the reporting matrix, including a crosswalk with other reporting frameworks (CDP Forest, GRI, and ZSL-SPOTT), aiming to facilitate data aggregation and simplify the evaluation of annual progress. They will evaluate and decide on the consultant’s proposed revisions to the reporting framework, and make recommendations to improve the reporting process and timelines.

The Policy Toolbox WG has to agree on the TRR, update Reporting Guidance to reflect the proposed changes, and finalize the Compliance Panel TOR and operational guidance based on the Assurance Model. The WG is currently conducting meetings that will continue during the in-person meetings.

Shared Responsibility Working Group: The face-to-face meeting included a presentation on governance and guiding principles, and manufacturers to submit a revised document. The WG is currently awaiting the outcomes of discussions on shared investment principles at the manufacturers’ category level before proceeding with their work. Once the proposal from the manufacturers is available, the WG will revamp the discussions on data sharing and value transfer.

May 31, 2023

More To Explore

PUBLIC CONSULTATION: GPSNR OPERATIONAL GUIDANCE FOR EUDR IN THE NATURAL RUBBER SUPPLY CHAIN

Public feedback is currently closed and under review

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber has prepared three guidance documents to support GPSNR members in their efforts to comply with the upcoming European Union Deforestation Regulation.

The Platform is now conducting a 30-day public consultation on these documents. After the consultation, a multi-stakeholder task force within the Platform will review the comments, make the necessary changes, and send these documents for endorsement by the Executive Committee.

Any feedback on the documents should be added by 15th May 2024.

The final version will be publicly available once all the feedback has been incorporated.

Add your feedback here before 15 May 2024

GPSNR Secretariat April 12, 2024

News

It’s a Wrap: GPSNR’s Fourth Smallholder International Call

Although it had been more than a month since the GPSNR smallholder members had met at the international level, they took their places in the online meeting with a sense of familiarity that was heartening to see.

We had come a long way since the first international call in late August. Since then, the second and third international calls had taken place, focusing on preparing the smallholders for the General Assembly. In the weeks after the General Assembly, the Country Champions helped to organise national-level calls for the smallholders to recap the results of the resolutions and Executive Committee (EC) elections, and to discuss topics of interest to be brought up during the fourth and final international call as part of the series.

The fourth international call was held in the evening of 22 October, and attended by smallholder members from all seven countries. The call began with an update from the three smallholder EC representatives on the EC calls that they had attended thus far. Overall, the representatives had positive takeaways from the EC meetings, despite some language barriers remaining.

Next, the Co-Chairs of GPSNR’s various Working Groups joined the call in order to introduce each of their Working Groups and briefly explain key focuses and projects. This generated some questions around the policy equivalent for smallholder members, as well as GPSNR’s approach towards traceability for smallholder producers. Several smallholder members also expressed interest in participating in these Working Groups. The Secretariat will get in touch with all smallholders members to facilitate their inclusion in the platform’s Working Groups.

The final half hour of the call was dedicated to a discussion on smallholder community dynamics and how to manage the exchange of information within the category while understanding the geographical and linguistic differences amongst the clusters of smallholder members.

This concludes the series of preparatory calls designed by the Smallholder Representation Working Group to prepare smallholders for their first GPSNR General Assembly and outcomes. But as the saying goes: when one door closes, another opens. And in this case, the door has opened for the newest membership category to define the parameters and mechanisms of their involvement within the platform, with the support of the Secretariat and fellow GPSNR members.

GPSNR Staff October 28, 2020