Sumitomo Rubber announces resumption of Traceability and Transparency Pilot Project

Singaport – The Sumitomo Rubber Group announced that they held a kickoff ceremony this past September in Jambi Province, Indonesia to celebrate the resumption of their “Traceability and Transparency Pilot Project,” which had been suspended until then due to the pandemic. This pilot project brings together the group’s natural rubber procurement subsidiary (SUMITOMO RUBBER SINGAPORE PTE. LTD.), a producer and distributor of natural rubber based in Singapore (Halcyon Agri Corporation Ltd.) and a natural rubber processor based in Indonesia (PT. Hok Tong).

Launched with initial support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF1), this pilot project aims to promote efforts to improve the traceability2 and transparency of natural rubber. With the further aim of improving living standards for farmers producing natural rubber, we are also working together with Halcyon Agri Corporation to study actual conditions for natural rubber farmers as well as the distribution channels that they use to bring their product to market while at the same time providing them with training, free fertilizer and other forms of support.

As an active participant in GPSNR (Global Platform for Sustainable Natural Rubber), the Sumitomo Rubber Group formulated and released the first edition of their “Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy” in November 2018 in order to codify their efforts to ensure that natural rubber will be a sustainable resource for the future. They then revised their “Sustainable Natural Rubber Policy” in August 2021 with the aim of further expanding their efforts to tackle deforestation and human rights issues related to working conditions in regions that produce natural rubber.