IRSG and GPSNR sign MoU

The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) and the Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) designed to detail and define efforts to increase cooperation between the two bodies.

The MoU signing took place at IRSG’s offices in Singapore, on the 6 August 2019. It was signed by Salvatore Pinizzotto, IRSG secretary general and Stefano Savi, GPSNR director.

According to the two parties, cooperation will focus on “sustainability in the natural rubber value chain, particularly in relation to socio-economic and environmental aspects linked to the natural rubber sustainable production and consumption”.

Immediate opportunities for collaboration include: definition of natural rubber sustainability and identification of appropriate standards, building on the activity carried out from IRSG in the SNR-i project; and natural rubber sustainability and socio-economic impacts on smallholders in producing countries.

The International Rubber Study Group (IRSG) was established in 1944 and is the only intergovernmental organisation that brings the world’s rubber producing and consuming stakeholders together. The IRSG is the forum for the discussion of matters affecting the supply and demand for natural as well as synthetic rubber. IRSG is at the forefront in conducting activities and research on the sustainability of the natural rubber economy. IRSG has 36 member governments and more than 100 industry members covering the whole natural rubber value chain.

The Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber (GPSNR) is an international, multi-stakeholder, voluntary membership organisation, with a mission to lead improvements in the socioeconomic and environmental performance of the natural rubber value chain. Development of the GPSNR was initiated by the CEOs of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) Tire Industry Project (TIP) in November 2017. Currently the Platform has 51 members including Producers, Processors & Traders, tyre makers and other rubber makers/buyers, car makers, other downstream users and financial institutions, and civil society. 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 GPSNR strategy and objectives.