Expression of Interest to Develop Labour Guidance for RSPO Independent Smallholders

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) held its 16th Annual General Assembly in Bangkok, Thailand on 6 November 2019 for all Ordinary Members to vote on Resolution GA16-6f for the adoption of the RSPO Independent Smallholder (ISH) Standard 2019 for the production of sustainable palm oil by independent smallholders. The standard will be applicable on a global scale, particularly in countries with a large presence of independent smallholders, such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Colombia, and Mexico.

With the adoption of the RSPO ISH Standard, independent smallholders who employ workers in their operations will need to comply with the RSPO ISH Standard, which promotes legal compliance and the protection of the rights of workers employed by independent smallholders. The RSPO recognises that it can be a challenge to implement labour standards within ISH plots, as there is a perception that the same can lead to an increase in cost, time, and effort. This will add further complexity to the local regulations, which proves to be a challenge for independent smallholders to comply with. As such, the development of a Labour Guidance for the RSPO ISH Standard 2019 would assist independent smallholders and respective group managers to comply with the standard.

Interested applicants are advised to read and consider the ToR (attached) and submit their expression of interest together with their profile, relevant expertise, and proposed methodology on how they intend to take on this project.

Kindly submit your expression of interest to [email protected] by 6:00pm MYT on 13 March 2020.

For any queries, kindly contact Krishna Jeyabalan at [email protected].