Sri Lanka's Rubber Development Department and the European Union-funded Green Recovery Facility recently organised a 80-stakeholders rubber industry gathering in Colombo to map out a capacity-building drive on meeting emerging international requirements on sustainability rules. 

Participants at the Stakeholder Consultation Workshop included government institutions, plantation companies, smallholder farmer organisations, processors, exporters, manufacturers, industry associations, and development partners.

The programme was implemented by Expertise France under the EU Global Gateway strategy, and formed part of ongoing efforts to enhance Sri Lanka’s readiness for the EUDR and strengthen the long-term sustainability and resilience of the country’s rubber sector.

Opening the workshop, Ministry of Plantation and Community Infrastructure Secretary Gunadasa Samarasinghe emphasised the importance of ensuring that Sri Lanka’s rubber sector remains competitive and well-positioned to respond to evolving sustainability expectations and seize emerging opportunities in international markets.

Discussions explored stakeholders’ current levels of awareness and compliance with the EUDR, the role of government institutions in supporting implementation, international best practices and available traceability tools, and the priority capacity-building needs of actors across the rubber value chain.

The recommendations generated through the workshop will help shape the design of the initiative’s capacity-building programme, including the development of a three-and-a-half-day Training of Trainers (ToT) programme and stakeholder-specific training activities. The initiative is expected to directly train approximately 280 stakeholders across the rubber value chain, further strengthening the sector’s readiness to meet EUDR requirements.