GPSNR Working Groups Update: August 2022

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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! 

More To Explore
Members

GPSNR Grievance Mechanism: Call for Comments (Members Version)

During the September 2020 General Assembly, GPSNR members voted to allow the Executive Committee to move forward with designing and implementing a Grievance Mechanism, as outlined in a revision to the statutes. The GPSNR Grievance Mechanism is a non-legal system established for stakeholders to express concerns they have about a GPSNR member or the GPSNR Secretariat and find optimal ways to resolve disputes. This Mechanism is distinct from the Grievance Mechanisms that ordinary company members are required to establish and maintain, and should be used in the event that the company’s mechanism has not successfully resolved the complaints raised. 

Full details of the proposed GPSNR Grievance Mechanism and a list of related Frequently Asked Questions can be downloaded at the following links:

Proposed Grievance Mechanism Process

Grievance Mechanism FAQ

Membership Survey

GPSNR members are invited to comment on the proposed Grievance Mechanism by providing their responses via a survey. The survey will be open until 29 January 2021, after which the results will be compiled and reviewed.

Click here to submit your comments on the proposed Grievance Mechanism

Members Webinar

There will be an informational webinar on 14 January 2021 at 8pm (Singapore time) during which the members developing the Grievance Mechanism will share more details about the mechanism and conduct a Q&A session.

Click here to register for the webinar.

GPSNR Staff December 30, 2020
News

Developing a GPSNR Assurance Model

Assurance is defined as demonstrable evidence that specified requirements relating to a product, process, system, person or body are fulfilled. In other words, thinking about Assurance is to ponder the question: how do we protect the credibility of our claim?

The Executive Committee (EC) has been working on an Assurance model concept since late 2019. Following the request for proposal put up in August 2019, an external consultant was engaged to conduct a review of the options for various Assurance Models that would support the desired outcomes of the Platform. In early 2020, the report from the consultant, which discussed existing approaches to Assurance and included recommendations for GPSNR’s approach to Assurance, was submitted to the EC. 

The EC considered the input from the report and expanded upon its findings by conducting a thorough benchmarking of existing Assurance model approaches. Following this exercise, the EC identified and defined several key characteristics that merit inclusion in GPSNR’s Assurance model concept.

In the process of developing these key characteristics, the EC also took into account the purpose, value and benefits of an Assurance model. 

A robust Assurance model would provide a credible and effective system to manage risks by supporting the achievement of sustainability impacts, focusing on accurate assessments of compliance, ensuring the effectiveness of its assurance strategies through good information management systems, and finding additional ways to create value for stakeholders.

A webinar will be held on Friday, 26 June 2020 to introduce GPSNR members to a proposed Assurance model concept.

A tabled summary of the process and timelines around the development of the Assurance model concept up until now is included below:

January 2020 Consultant report submitted to EC for review
January – February 2020 EC discussions
March 2020 Deep dive into Assurance model benchmark by EC sub-group
April 2020 EC agrees on basic characteristics to build Assurance model from
April – June 2020 Design, discussion and refinement within EC

GPSNR Staff June 24, 2020

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