The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR), a Singapore-headquartered organization focused on improving the social, economic, and environmental aspects of the natural rubber value chain, urges Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), who are convening to vote on November 14th on proposed EUDR amendments, to ensure legal certainty on the implementation timeline and avoid reopening the regulatory text.
Along with the European Tire and Rubber Manufacturers Association (ETRMA) , GPSNR has written to the European Parliament earlier this month to ask MEPs to use the proposal for amendments solely to create certainty about the timeline and not change the substance of the regulation.
GPSNR members represent almost 60% of the global NR demand and include OEMs, manufacturers of rubber products, producers and traders of natural rubber, smallholder farmers, and civil society. All these stakeholders have worked tirelessly and swiftly to comply with the regulation, whose original date of implementation is weeks away.
Notwithstanding this, GPSNR believes MEPs have a key role in ensuring the European Commission uses the proposed additional 12 months for implementation to resolve the remaining issues, particularly the functioning of the information system and the necessary secondary legislation, including on the benchmarking system as well as completing the planned review of the relevant products in Annex I by June 2025.
According to the GPSNR statement, the natural rubber industry strongly supports the vision of the EUDR and its members have been working on committing to and implementing strong environmental and human rights related principles in their operations for a long time. These efforts need the support of a fair and transparent regulatory environment that can help the industry move further ahead on their efforts on deforestation and human rights.