In 2017, the RSPO Board of Governors endorsed the Complaints and Appeals Procedures (2017) which relates to and impacts upon the operations of the RSPO Dispute Settlement Facility (DSF). In this regard, the DSF having decided to revise its procedures aimed at strengthening and aligning itself with the Complaints and Appeals Procedures, has consulted with representatives of Complainants, RSPO members and officers, as well as the DSF Advisory Group. With this valuable range of input and guidance, the DSF has reviewed its approach to supporting Complainants and RSPO members equally and crafted a set of Operational Guidelines and a renewed Framework, Principles and Terms of Reference (FPToR). The FPToR will subsequently be supported by clearly defined Qualifications for the Network of Mediators envisaged by DSF, as well as a Code of Conduct for Professional DSF Mediators.
DSF wishes to put on record that only the Operational Guidelines and the renewed Framework, Principles and Terms of Reference (FPToR) are released for Public Consultation.
In submitting these draft documents for Public Consultation, we are inviting comments to support our goal to attain high professional standards of good practice in delivery of DSF Mediation services.
DSF alerts the public to the fact that the proposed revisions remain subject to further internal discussions which will be informed by the public response that we hereby invite, as well as practical internal deliberations on the evolution of DSF’s governance, financial resources and capacity of RSPO to deliver, always subject to the support of its members.
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