Updated 6 May 2022

Introduction

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 of the platform include tire manufacturers, rubber producers and processors, vehicle makers, NGOs, and smallholder natural rubber producers. 

GPSNR is seeking to hire a consultant to develop the GPSNR Policy Equivalent for Smallholders, which will put forth commitments for economic, environmental, and social sustainability for GPSNR smallholder members.

Relevant Background

GPSNR Policy Framework for Member Companies

In September 2020, the GPSNR General Assembly endorsed the GPSNR Policy Framework for natural rubber production and sourcing for GPSNR ordinary member companies.

The GPSNR Policy Framework provides a framework for GPSNR member companies to align their natural rubber purchasing policies on all aspects of sustainability: economic, environmental, and social. Modelled around the Platform’s 12 Principles of Sustainable Natural Rubber, the GPSNR policy framework sets out eight overarching themes that include commitments to legal compliance, community livelihoods, healthy, functioning ecosystems (including no deforestation), and respecting all human rights.

In line with the GPSNR Policy Framework, the GPSNR Secretariat has prepared guidance on the Policy Evaluation Procedure to support members in aligning their corporate policies with the GPSNR Policy Framework.

GPSNR Smallholders Policy Equivalent for Smallholder Members

As of March 2022, GPSNR currently has 112 smallholder members across 10 countries: Brazil, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.

While this represents a small percentage of the millions of smallholder producers globally, GPSNR is committed to developing the mechanisms, tools, and processes to support smallholders globally in adopting best practices for natural rubber production in terms of economic, environmental and social outcomes. 

To advance this, the Platform is developing the GPSNR Smallholders Policy Equivalent. GPSNR is seeking to hire a consultant to make recommendations on the objectives, content, function, and roadmap of this new document, the Smallholders Policy (or similar equivalent), relative to the needs, interests, and capacities of the Platform’s smallholder members.

The consultant is expected to collect relevant information via desktop study and information provided by the GPSNR Secretariat and the GPSNR Smallholders Policy Task Force.

The consultant would also be expected to conduct a number of stakeholder engagement sessions (e.g., interviews, focus group discussion; including but not necessarily limited to GPSNR smallholder members, and GPSNR NGO and private company members with direct interactions with smallholder, such as natural rubber processers) based on the criteria set out below. The GPSNR Secretariat will provide a preliminary list of contacts and the consultant will be expected to propose additional contacts to interview, with a particular focus on external schemes / platforms that engage with smallholders.

Regular contact and provision of updates to the Task Force together with the Secretariat will be required.

Further Context

To become a Smallholder Member of GPSNR, the following criteria must be met:

1. The primary source of income for the smallholder is the farm (not only Natural Rubber)
2. The Natural Rubber production unit size is not more than 50ha (although the farm may be larger)
3. Profits from the farm accrue primarily to the owner of the farm and their family

Deliverables

Objectives, Content and Function of the Smallholders Policy Equivalent

The consultant should put forth recommendations covering the objectives, substantive content, function, and roadmap (e.g., propose normative documents to be developed later on) of the Smallholders Policy Equivalent, considering the responses of key stakeholders to the following questions:

1. What are the objectives of the Policy Equivalent for GPSNR and GPSNR smallholder members?
2. What are the sustainability commitments and standards put forth in the Policy Equivalent?
3. How detailed should the commitments in the Policy Equivalent be? 
4. How binding should the Policy Equivalent be for smallholder members (e.g., level of adoption requirements)?
5. What would the Policy Equivalent entail or mean for smallholder members upon its completion and endorsement?
6. What are the expected costs and benefits of implementing the Policy Equivalent for member and non-member smallholders?
7. How would the content, form or function of the Policy Equivalent compare to existing equivalents (e.g., participatory guarantee systems) in other commodities (e.g., coffee, cocoa, palm oil etc.), if any? 
8. Follow-up Questions: What mechanisms can GPSNR put in place to assist farmers in managing the costs of adhering to implementing sustainability best practices?

This should be conducted through a needs review comprising a representative set of stakeholders (smallholders, NGOs, processers, and producers). GPSNR will facilitate virtual access and engagement with GPSNR smallholder and company members where applicable and requested by the consultant.

This RFP is also not limited in scope to smallholders or stakeholders in any specific geographical region, given that the output is expected to be globally applicable.

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. Examples of previous relevant work should be provided as well.
3. A technical proposal must be provided that should be around 4 pages in length. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed methodology as well as resumes of all key personnel performing the work. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a proposed schedule and milestones, as applicable.
4. A price proposal must be provided that is not more than 1 page. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price for the project as well as daily rates and an estimated total number of days.
5. Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to commit bidder’s company.
6. Proposals must be received prior to 10 June 2022 to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to yeo.siyuan@gpsnr.org for consideration. You may also reach out to this contact for any questions or clarifications.

Project Timelines

The Request for Proposal timeline is as follows:

The above timeline is open to further adjustments based on discussions with the consultant and GPSNR’s ongoing key milestones.

Budget

The Platform is anticipating that a total budget of no more than 25,000 GBP. If the consultant deems that travel plans are required to execute this project, these should be included in the proposal (along with any additional budgetary requirements).

Payment terms shall be:

●       20% at the signing of the contract
●       30% at the midpoint date to be agreed upon and memorialized in the contract based on the submitted work plan
●       50% on delivery of the final report

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors:

1. Costs and expected timeline
2. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this RFP
3. Methodology for developing the Policy Equivalent 
4. Technical expertise/experience, including past performance/experience

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.

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 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.

In 2023, the GPSNR’s Risk assessment subgroup commissioned Assurance Services International (ASI) to create a risk tool that would allow GPSNR to classify risk across different geographies and scales. ASI has completed the tool and it is available at this link (not for wider distribution, only provided as a reference for this RFP). The role of this consultancy will be to fill in this tool using the most relevant and up-to-date information.

The risks that are assessed by the tool are Child Labour, Forced Labour, Freedom of Association, Health and Safety, Working Hours, Wages, Land and Community Rights, Deforestation, HCV, Fire, and Peat. The tool also includes the different risk criteria to be assessed and sources of information.

The Engagement

The GPSNR Secretariat is seeking a consultant to utilize the risk tool and complete risk assessments for 20 countries across all 11 risks. The consultant will be expected to complete the tool template at the country level for each of the 20 countries. Assessments at the regional or farm level are not required. The risk assessment scope should be limited to the natural rubber supply chain. The consultant is not required to propose mitigation measures for this exercise and risks should be assessed as-is (without factoring in any mitigating actions).

The consultant should list any additional sources of evidence and also include justification for each risk’s classification. The consultant should reference existing studies where possible and is strongly encouraged to consider previously commissioned GPSNR studies (such as the Environmental Risk Study and Social Risk Study both of which provide risk information pertaining to the Natural Rubber Supply Chain).

We require risk assessments to be conducted for:

1. Brazil
2. Cambodia
3. Cameroon
4. China
5. Colombia
6. Ghana
7. Guinea
8. Guatemala
9. India
10. Indonesia
11. Ivory Coast
12. Liberia
13. Malaysia
14. Mexico
15. Myanmar
16. Nigeria
17. Philippines
18. Sri Lanka
19. Thailand
20. Vietnam

While this is intended to be a desk-based exercise, consultants who are able to consider the perspectives of indigenous peoples and local communities will be looked upon favourably for this tender.

Consultants may propose focusing on a subset of countries from this list for risk assessment. In this scenario, consultants should specify which countries they would be covering. 

After the first drafts are available, the platform will conduct a 30-day consultation with members. This consultation with members will be facilitated by the Secretariat. Consultants should factor in the need to review and respond to members feedback after the consultation period and provide the Secretariat with a complete list of feedback, together with the consultant’s response to each piece of feedback received.  At the same time, the consultants should also review the first draft based on the feedback review.

The second version of risk assessment will be considered final, and acceptance of this version will mark the conclusion of this engagement.

Proposal Format and Contents

The proposal should include the following:

1. Workplan that outlines a timeline and key stages of work, with a focus on the amount of time needed for the initial drafting phase and for the review of and response to members’ feedback. Consultants should ensure that there is sufficient time allocated for reviewing and responding to feedback.
2. Budget with a breakdown of costs
3. Description of past work and technical expertise that is relevant to this RFP
4. List of project team members with their roles in the project and associated qualifications and expertise.
5. (If applicable) A list of IPLC groups that the consultant is familiar with and would engage for this project if selected.

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. Examples of previous relevant work should be provided as well.
3. A technical proposal must be provided that is not more than 4 pages. This technical proposal must provide an overview of the proposed solution as well as resumes of all key personnel performing the work. In addition, the technical proposal should provide a proposed schedule and milestones, as applicable.
4. A price proposal must be provided that is not more than 1 pages. This price proposal should indicate the overall fixed price for the project and may include a breakdown of costs if consultants consider it relevant.
5. Proposals must be signed by a representative that is authorized to commit bidder’s company.
6. Proposals must be received prior to the 9th of May to be considered. Proposals should be submitted to aidan@gpsnr.org for consideration.
7. GPSNR reserves the right to amend the scope and budget of this RFP in order to get the most suitable consultant for each topic.
8. Bidders must ensure that all external personnel involved in preparing and executing this proposal are under exclusive agreements specific to this RFP. These agreements must obligate the external personnel to exclusively dedicate their services to the bidder’s proposal, prohibiting their engagement in any other proposals for the same RFP. This measure is to maintain the integrity of the bidding process and prevent conflicts of interest.
9. Award of this project is subject to confirmation of financing from GPSNR members.

Project Timelines

Budget

The Platform invites consultants to submit a competitive price proposal, the proposed budget will be factored into selection of the consultant.

Payment terms shall be:

• 20% at the signing of the contract
• 30% at the delivery and acceptance by the Secretariat of the first risk assessment
• 50% on delivery and acceptance by the Secretariat of the finalized risk assessment and compiled responses to members’ feedback.

Evaluation Factors

GPSNR will rate proposals based on the following factors, in no particular order:

1. Responsiveness to the requirements set forth in this Request for Proposal
2. Relevant experience with risk assessment, including samples of work
3. Relevant experience with the natural rubber supply chain including the countries relevant to this RFP
4. Cost
5. Technical expertise/experience of bidder and bidder’s staff
6. The proposed timeline of work completion

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.

Note: The award of this contract will only be considered complete upon securing full funding and completion of the contract signing.

View RFP Document here