Statement by the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber on Proposed new EU Deforestation Regulation

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The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) affirms the commitment of its membership toward deforestation-free natural rubber supply chains and acknowledges the importance of engaging with regulators to support its ambitions. In considering how to address the risk of deforestation and forest degradation associated with products placed on the EU market, we urge EU regulators to continue to engage with the rubber and tyre sector to ensure that the due diligence requirements ultimately deliver social and environmental benefits, including eliminating deforestation from rubber supply chains and improving smallholder livelihoods. Adopting a risk-based approach at jurisdictional or landscape level with mitigation and impact driven capacity building actions would promote inclusive and scalable progress in the smallholder context, whilst effectively addressing the goal of preventing products derived from deforestation caused by natural rubber from being placed on EU markets.

In this respect, GPSNR believes that any regulation addressing deforestation in the natural rubber supply chain, including the present proposal, must align with the following factors to be transformative:

• Sustainable natural rubber must promote equity for smallholders. Smallholders represent 85% of natural rubber production globally. The design of any regulation relating to natural rubber must consider and mitigate any potential negative impacts on smallholder farmers while aiming to improve the livelihoods of farmers who adopt sustainable practices.

• Considering the complexity of the natural rubber supply chain, a risk-based approach that has jurisdictional traceability as its foundation offers a practical and effective approach to addressing deforestation. While advances in traceability are being made in the natural rubber sector, it is currently infeasible to conduct farm-to-factory tracing in all cases. A risk-based approach would include requiring some farm-to-factory tracing where risk is non-negligible, but not in every natural rubber supply chain.

• Capacity building to promote sustainable practices, for smallholders and plantations alike, is an essential tool to curb deforestation in the natural rubber supply chain, so any regulation should prioritize funding to enhance capacity building.

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GPSNR Working Groups Update: October 2024

Smallholders Representation and Capacity Building (SCB) Working Group:

The Project Management Subgroup has officially commenced its activities with a kick-off meeting and two preparatory sessions, setting the groundwork for project evaluations. The GPSNR Capacity Building website has been updated with data from projects up to Quarter 3 of 2024, providing members with the latest insights. This month, 10 Cambodian members were approved, with an onboarding call scheduled to welcome them, and the Smallholder pre-GA webinar took place on 18 November 2024 to support engagement ahead of the General Assembly.

The Secretariat continues to support registered smallholders in the lead-up to the General Assembly, with 9 Ivorian, 5 Thai, and 2 Indonesian smallholders currently awaiting membership approval. Ongoing capacity-building projects are being actively monitored and managed, including Phase 3 of the Indonesia GAP Project, where Koltiva is revising its training materials for smallholders based on valuable feedback received.

 

Shared Responsibility Working Group:

To further the work on the Shared Investment Mechanism, the Project Management subgroup has approved the Project Evaluation Criteria document and will start to evaluate projects to ensure conformance with GPSNR’s requirements for capacity building projects. The subgroup will continue to review project proposals and aims to have all proposals reviewed by mid-February.

On Value Transfer related tasks, the Executive Committee’s value transfer task force met for a first meeting to discuss the next steps, agreeing that the mechanism should reward smallholders who have already put sustainable practices in place. Value transfer task force is developing a series of simple indicators that can showcase improved smallholder performance, and ways that smallholders can support this with evidence. Further discussions will continue in December. 

GPSNR Secretariat November 27, 2024

Call for Project Proposals — GPSNR Shared Investment Mechanism 2027 Funding Cycle [Submission Deadline Extended to 25 June 2026)

IMPORTANT UPDATE NOTICE

Submission Deadline Extended to 25 June 2026
Proposals and budget templates must be submitted by 23:59 SGT on 25 June 2026. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Applicant Webinar Materials
GPSNR held an applicant webinar to walk through the SIM 2027 application process, requirements, and assessment criteria on 8 June 2026. If you missed the session or would like a refresher, the materials are available here: Presentation slides & Webinar recording

A few important reminders before you submit:
–  Proposals are assessed against the SIM funding principles, the open market criteria, and overall quality. Please review these carefully to ensure your project is aligned.
–  Proposals must follow the guidance provided in the proposal template, budget template, and FAQ document. Submissions that do not follow this guidance may be rejected, so we encourage you to check your documents against these references before submitting.

 

The GPSNR Shared Investment Mechanism (SIM) is now accepting project proposals for the 2027 funding cycle.

SIM is a joint funding framework under which GPSNR Ordinary Members (currently mandatory for Manufacturer Members) co-fund sustainability and capacity-building projects across the natural rubber value chain. Through this call, organisations and individuals are invited to submit project proposals that align with the SIM Funding Principles.

This call is open to both GPSNR and non-GPSNR members. Proposals that successfully pass the technical evaluation conducted by the evaluation panel will be included in a list of approved projects. Manufacturer Members will then review this list and decide which projects to fund.

Submission Window: 21 April – 15 June 2026 (Extended to 25 June 2026) 

Deadline: Proposals and budget templates must be submitted by 23:59 SGT on 15 June 2026 (Extended to 25 June 2026). Late submissions will not be accepted.

Submission Instructions

    1. Download the required documents:
    2. Read the GPSNR Call for Project Proposals FAQ V4.docx  prior to preparing your submission.
    3. Complete both documents and submit them to cheewei@gpsnr.org using the following subject line:
      [SIM 2027 Proposal Submission] – [Your Project Name]

For more information, please contact cheewei@gpsnr.org

GPSNR Secretariat April 21, 2026
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