Call for Proposal: Independent Review of RSPO Standards Review and Revision Process

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) is inviting experienced consultants to submit proposals for an Independent Review of the RSPO Standards Review and Revision Process.

The primary objectives of this independent review are, among others:

• To assess the current RSPO Standards Review and Revision Process, identifying strengths, gaps, and areas for improvement and optimisation.
• To evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of the current process in terms of duration, resource dependency, and stakeholder engagement.
• To identify areas and recommend changes that can ensure the current RSPO process is clearly and coherently aligned with the organisation’s mandate, goals, and strategic objectives, as well as RSPO’s Code Compliance status with the ISEAL Alliance Code of Good Practices for Sustainability Systems and its requirements. Alignment with relevant regulatory relevance in key production, sourcing and consumption jurisdictions, as well as industry expectations, is also key to ensure the future RSPO processes remain relevant.
• Provide actionable proposals that will enhance the RSPO’s current processes, ensuring that future RSPO revisions of its standards are more efficient, effective, timely, and inclusive.
• Among the processes to be addressed are:
  • RSPO Standard Operating Procedures for Standard Setting and Review 2020
  • RSPO Standard Operating Procedures for the development/update of normative and informative supplementary or derivative documents that support the implementation of the RSPO Standards
  • Detailed stages and requirements within the RSPO Standards Review and Revision process, from initiation to development to engagement to final approval and to publication, including best practices within development of sustainability schemes, a mechanism for consultations, and requirements for field testing. This should include a particular emphasis on best practices adopted by other relevant Voluntary Sustainability Schemes (VSS), especially those within the ISEAL Alliance membership umbrella.

Interested parties are advised to review the attached Terms of Reference (ToR) thoroughly and submit their expressions of interest, proposals, and other required documents to [email protected] by 6:00 PM MYT (GMT+8) on 19 March 2025.

Terms of Reference for the Independent Review of RSPO Standards Review and Revision Process

Click here for more details on the RSPO SOP for Standards Setting and Revision 2020

Click here for the latest RSPO Standards Review and Revision 2022-2024