Introduction & Background

 
 The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative seeking to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain.
Development of GPSNR was initiated by the CEOS of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Tire Industry Project (TIP) in 2018. Members of the platform include tire manufacturers, rubber suppliers and processors, vehicle makers and NGOs. Representatives from each of these stakeholder groups have contributed to the development of the Singapore-based platform and the wide-reaching set of priorities that will define strategy and objectives.

 

Thailand is the largest producer of natural rubber (NR) worldwide, contributing 36% to
total global production. Majority of the NR production in Thailand is conducted
by smallholder farmers owning land of 2-4 hectares. The NR value chain in Thailand has historically been supported by various governmental bodies, now functioning under the umbrella of the Rubber Authority of Thailand (RAOT). This has led to exceptional performance by rubber farms, with an average yield exceeding 1.6 tons per hectare in 2019. However, the NR value chain in Thailand remains highly labour-intensive and currently
faces oversupply and low prices.

Thailand rubber has some specific particularities. It is grown in 4 main regions with different growing conditions: Traditional areas are in the South (the historical planting) and the East (Rayong and Chanthaburi provinces) while more recent developments were established in less climatically favourable areas: North and North-East (Esan). It has the particularity to be produced almost exclusively by smallholders, using higher tapping frequencies than other countries even in the neighbourhood, and to exploit rather low size farms (1.5ha or less). Share cropping among farmers and tappers is a common practice, beside family farming. Consequence of this is that although a good land productivity (kg/ha), labour productivity remains very low to date.

GPSNR, through the Smallholders Representative and Capacity Building Working Group (SCB WG) – Thailand National Subgroup, is currently inviting proposals for the dissemination of coaching materials and implementation of coaching on Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) for smallholders in two regions (North and North-East) of Thailand, with a focus on one province per region.

 

The proposed coaching programs should be implemented in accordance with the
GPSNR’s environmental and social commitments and values, as outlined in the GPSNR
Policy Framework[1], and in compliance with the relevant Thai Agricultural Standard: Good Agricultural Practices issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives
of Thailand.

[1]
https://sustainablenaturalrubber.org/policy-framework/

Objectives

 

The overall objectives of the GAP coaching programmes are to ensure the long-term sustainability of rubber livelihoods and ecosystems by increasing smallholders’ productivity, yields, and socio-economic resilience, whilst safeguarding nature and the environment. 

 

Expected Deliverables

 

Brief Justifications

The objective of the project is to update and disseminate the best Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs) recommendations to farmers in Thailand. This aims to ensure that planters have access to relevant knowledge and resources to enhance their productivity,
motivation, and income, leading to an improved livelihood.

The proposal should implement GPSNR’s proposed strategy for capacity building in
Thailand and provide brief justifications on the most suitable approach to
conduct coaching for smallholders in two regions (North and North-East) of
Thailand, with a focus on one province per region.

The GPSNR SCB WG – Thailand National Subgroup may prioritize funding for coaching in
regions based on relative productivity, coverage of existing coaching services,
socio-economic needs, recommendations of RAOT, or other considerations.

Proposed Coaching Approach

Possible approaches for consideration include (non-exhaustive): mobile coaching at local
community centres; building physical training centres; on-farm coaching; hybrid
coaching approaches. The proposal should consider which approach represents the
best fit for community needs and dynamics.

The proposed coaching approach should consider, but is not limited to, the
following priorities:

a.    Coaching based on the train-the-trainers (ToT) model

b.   Female and other minority inclusion and representation

c.    Field coaching (or other approach) implementation plans

d.   Integration of technology for data capture and ongoing engagement, and progress tracking (i.e. immediate and longer-term monitoring and evaluation)

e.   Others (i.e. nuanced approaches to meet geographic/other needs; ongoing farmer community connectivity and interactions; engagement with local or regional officials

Service providers are to adapt the provided GPSNR GAP coaching approaches. The GPSNR GAPs are created to serve as general best practices and principles for global usage and are periodically reviewed and updated to reflect the sector’s latest understandings.

The service provider is expected to work with GPSNR to adapt the general GAPs to align with local situations in Thailand and comply with the relevant Thai Agricultural Standard: Good Agricultural Practices issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand. This will build trust with smallholders and optimize the coaching outcomes, particularly in terms of language, technical specificities, and local needs.

Service providers should also translate the relevant Thai Agricultural Standard: Good Agricultural Practices issued by the Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives of Thailand from Thai to English.

The GPSNR GAPs consist of the following four modules:

1.     Rubber Plant Material

2. Establishment and Maintenance of Plantations

3.    Latex Harvesting

4.   Diseases and Pests

Service providers are also expected to operate in line with principles and values set forth in the GPSNR Policy Framework such as commitment to environmental protection and sustainability, zero deforestation, community engagement and FPIC etc.

The selected service provider may also be expected to work closely with the GPSNR SCB WG – Thailand National Subgroup to fine-tuned or further augment the provided coaching materials. 

 

Key Metrics

To prevent risk of false correlations, it is essential to collect baseline data on participating smallholders before the GAP coaching begins. The impact assessment should compare the participating smallholders’ data after the GAP coaching to accurately measure their improvement.

It is also important to collect control group date of smallholders who did not participate in the GAP coaching programmes to ensure any changes observed are due to the GAP coaching and not other factors. Additionally, being aware of external factors such as weather and market prices can help to better assess the results.

 The proposal should elaborate on how the following key metrics can be achieved and measured:

1.      Total number of smallholders coached

2.     Total number of trainers or coaches coached

3.     Year-by-year increase in smallholder productivity and smallholders engaged

4.    Inclusivity across gender, youth, geographic regions, and ethnicity (e.g., indigenous, or other minority communities)

5.     Monitoring and evaluation of coaching progress and outcomes

 The proposal should also identify other key metrics of importance not listed above and describe how they will be achieved and measured.

 

Submission Guidelines & Requirements

 

The following submission guidelines & requirements apply to
this Request for Proposal:

1.     Proposals will only be accepted
from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project.

2.    A technical proposal must be provided that is not more than 4 pages. This technical proposal must provide:

•      A workplan that outlines all key activities of the deliverables
(refers to Expected Deliverables above)

•      Timeline and key stages of operations (refers to Project
Timelines below)

•      Budget, including detailed breakdown of expected manpower,
logistics, and costs expected to run coaching programmes for an initial three
years, beginning in 2023 (refers to Budget below)

•      Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant
to this RFP

•      A list of project team members with their roles in the project and
associated qualifications

•      Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to
commit bidder’s company.

3.    Proposals must be received prior to the 30 June 2023 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to cheewei@gpsnr.org for consideration.

GPSNR reserves the right to amend the scope and budget of this RFP to get the most suitable consultant for each topic.

 

Project Timelines

 

RFP Publication	4 May 2023
Submission deadline for proposals	30 June 2023
Evaluation of proposals and follow up	21 July 2023
Contract Award	July 2023
Preparations and Implementation for 1st year	August 2023 – July 2024
First Full Review	August 2024
Preparations and Implementation for 2nd year	August 2024 – July 2025
Second Full Review	August 2025
Preparations and Implementation for 3rd year	August 2025 – July 2026
Third Full Review	August 2026

Service provider will also provide fortnightly or monthly progress updates to the GPSNR SCB WG, or on an as-needed basis.

Budget

 

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than 216,000 USD be allocated to this engagement, depending on the proposed coaching approach.

Payment terms shall be:
• 20% at the signing of the contract
• 20% at the first round of coaching conducted
• 20% upon First Full Review (August 2024)
• 20% upon Second Full Review (August 2025)
• 20% upon Third Full Review (August 2026)

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

1. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal
2. Relevant past performance/ experience
3. Samples of work
4. Cost per farmer, and other aspects of the proposed coaching approach of programme
5. Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff
6. Proposed timeline of operations

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNR as determined solely by GPSNR in its absolute discretion.

gulation consolidated text 20-12-22

 

View RFP Document here

Reference: GPSNR-RFP-CR-SCOPE-2026

Date: 7 October 2026

Issued by: Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR)

Representative: Stefano Savi, CEO – stefano.savi@gpsnr.org – +65 9297 0636

Co-contact: Aidan – aidan@gpsnr.org

Introduction & Background

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership initiative seeking to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. Members include rubber product manufacturers, natural rubber suppliers and processors (PPTs), end users, smallholders, and civil society organisations.

In September 2023, GPSNR issued RFP-C03-036 for a Central Repository intended to store polygon and supply chain data, support EUDR compliance, and reduce duplicated mapping effort across manufacturers. That process, led by the Manufacturer’s Subgroup, was discontinued in November 2023 after a group of tiremakers opted for a different solution outside the formal tender.

In 2026, the Secretariat restarted the initiative under a broader, multi-stakeholder approach, since the original manufacturer-led working group is no longer active. The concept has since been presented to the GPSNR membership and to Enterprise Singapore, which has indicated willingness to support the project.

Following that presentation, GPSNR member companies raised material questions that must be resolved before any funding or build decision is made, specifically regarding: (i) the long-term cost of setting up and maintaining such a system; (ii) the actual benefits and value proposition relative to existing member-run systems; and (iii) data sharing, data ownership, and cybersecurity concerns, given the commercially sensitive nature of individual companies’ supply chain data.

GPSNR members have provisionally agreed to jointly commission an independent consultant to conduct a scoping study that consults GPSNR members and relevant external experts, and produces a grounded assessment of scope, guardrails, and cost, together with a roadmap showing how the repository could evolve towards adjacent and downstream sustainability applications, ahead of any decision to proceed with development.

To keep the engagement lean, the GPSNR Secretariat will provide direct support to the consultant: scheduling and inviting member participants, handling logistics and communications, and co-facilitating or note-taking for a subset of member consultation sessions. The consultant remains responsible for consultation design, expert engagement, analysis, and the final deliverables.

Objectives and Scope of Work / Deliverables

GPSNR expects the consultant to deliver the following:

Member consultation

• Design structured consultations (interview guide and/or survey) covering a representative cross-section of GPSNR members: manufacturers, PPTs/traders, smallholder representatives, and civil society organisations.
• Lead the consultation sessions; the GPSNR Secretariat will handle scheduling, invitations, and logistics, and may co-facilitate or take notes for a subset of sessions to reduce consultant time on coordination.
• Capture views on perceived benefits, willingness to contribute data, red lines on data sharing, and preferred governance and access-control models.
• Identify areas of consensus and disagreement, and any conditions members attach to their participation.

Expert consultation

• Consult relevant technical and legal experts, including traceability/data platform providers (e.g. Koltiva, Agridence, TRST01, DIBIZ or equivalent), cybersecurity/data governance specialists, and legal counsel on competition law implications of inter-competitor data sharing.
• Benchmark comparable shared data infrastructure in other commodity sectors (e.g. palm oil, cocoa, soy) where relevant precedents exist.
• Consult downstream and adjacent players, such as banks and trade finance providers offering sustainability-linked financing, and carbon accounting, carbon project and registry actors, to assess how consolidated mapping data could evolve beyond EUDR compliance into applications such as sustainability-linked trade financing, carbon accounting and carbon projects.
• Identify what these applications would require of the data: coverage, granularity, verification and assurance, update frequency, and governance and consent arrangements.

Scope and guardrails

• Based on consultation findings, define 2–3 realistic scope options for the Central Repository (e.g. minimum viable shared layer vs. fuller-featured platform).
• Propose data governance guardrails: data ownership, access tiers, aggregation/anonymisation options, consent and opt-in/opt-out mechanisms, and security/compliance requirements (GDPR, PDPA, and competition law).
• For each scope option, indicate how it could be extended over time to support the adjacent and downstream applications identified in the expert consultation.

Cost assessment

• Estimate one-off set-up costs and recurring annual maintenance costs for each scope option, including hosting, licensing, integration, support, and governance overhead.
• Compare build vs. buy/partner options, including leveraging an existing vendor platform versus a bespoke build.
• Propose an indicative funding and fee model.

Recommendations and reporting

• Recommend a preferred option (or phased pathway) with a rationale tied directly to consultation findings and cost analysis.
• Develop an indicative roadmap with key milestones and timeframes, taking into account industry readiness, to show how long the project may require. As a minimum, the roadmap should set out:

when the mapping data is expected to be consolidated and validated for broader use;

• • whether, and at what stage, integration with the EU Information System is expected; and
  •  when additional industry participation could be integrated to enable adjacent and downstream applications
  •  Outline key risks and mitigations, and a proposed decision-making and governance process for the GPSNR General Assembly.
  • Present findings to the GPSNR Executive Committee, membership, and Enterprise Singapore.

 

Deliverables Summary

• Inception report and detailed workplan (within 1 week of contract award)
• Member and expert consultation summary report
•  Scope and guardrails options paper
• Cost model covering set-up and multi-year maintenance costs, by option
• Final report with recommendations and an indicative roadmap with key milestones
•  Presentation of findings to GPSNR governance bodies and Enterprise Singapore

 

Proposal Format and Contents

The proposal should include the following:

• A workplan outlining all key activities against the deliverables above
•  Timeline and key stages of the engagement
• Budget, including a breakdown of days by activity/team member, and any expenses (e.g. travel for in-person consultations)
•  Description of past work and technical expertise relevant to this RFP (e.g. multi-stakeholder consultation, data governance, agri-commodity traceability, cost/business-case modelling)
•  A list of project team members with roles and qualifications

 

Submission Guidelines & Requirements

• Proposals will only be accepted from individuals or firms with experience relevant to this project.
• Examples of previous relevant work should be provided.
•  A technical proposal of no more than 4 pages, covering the proposed approach, team resumes, and a proposed schedule with milestones.
•  A price proposal of no more than 1 page, indicating the overall fixed price, a cost breakdown, and daily rates with estimated number of days.
• Proposals must be signed by a representative authorised to commit the bidder’s company.
• – Proposals should be submitted to stefano.savi@gpsnr.org and aidan@gpsnr.org for consideration.
• GPSNR reserves the right to amend the scope and budget of this RFP to secure the most suitable consultant.

 

Project Timeline

The schedule below allows two additional weeks versus a compressed timeline, and builds in a pause over the December holiday period, when member and expert availability drops sharply. Final delivery falls in January 2027.

Milestone	Date
RFP Published	7 October 2026
Proposal Submission Deadline	20 October 2026
Contract Awarded	27 October 2026
Inception Meeting	3 November 2026
Member & Expert Consultation Phase	3 November – 12 December 2026
Holiday Pause (no activity expected)	15 December 2026 – 4 January 2027
Draft Report & Cost Model	12 January 2027
Final Report & Presentation to GPSNR	19 January 2027

 

Budget & Payment Terms

GPSNR will review budget proposals jointly; cost and value for money are important factors in the award decision. Given Secretariat support with member consultation logistics (see above), GPSNR expects proposals in the indicative range of SGD 20,000–30,000. Bidders should scope their approach and days accordingly, and may propose a leaner or more extensive approach with rationale. Bidders should show separately the days allocated to the downstream applications assessment and the roadmap.

GPSNR will invite at least three qualified consultants to submit quotations, to allow a competitive comparison by GPSNR.

Proposed payment terms:

• 30% at signing of contract
• 40% on submission of the draft report and cost model
• 30% on delivery of the final report and presentation

 

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

• Responsiveness to the requirements set out in this RFP
• Relevant past performance and experience, particularly in multi-stakeholder consultation and data governance/cost modelling for shared digital infrastructure
• Samples of comparable work
• Cost, including an assessment of total cost of ownership of the proposed approach
• – Technical expertise and experience of the bidder’s team, including independence and ability to engage objectively with commercially sensitive member concerns

GPSNR reserves the right to award to the bidder that presents the best value to GPSNRas determined solely by GPSNR in its discretion.