UN: Accountability across global value chains

 

Responding to growing calls for policy action to safeguard the integrity of both product sustainability claims and corporate sustainability disclosures, the 31st Plenary of the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT) last week adopted Recommendation No. 49: Transparency at Scale – Fostering Sustainable Value Chains.

This milestone outcome followed a successful Plenary gathering more than 100 delegates and experts from 28 member States, alongside international organizations such as the World Customs Organization (WCO) and the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). Participants discussed policy priorities and strategic directions to advance UN/CEFACT’s work on digital connectivity and sustainable value chain management.

Recommendation No. 49 seeks to deliver “transparency at scale” by ensuring that sustainability information—reliable, traceable, and verifiable—is accessible across borders, sectors, and all stages of value chains. It urges countries to develop national policies aligned with risk-based due diligence, supported by practical tools, trusted public services (e.g., certification), and inclusive stakeholder engagement. By reducing disclosure and compliance costs, it aims to create a fairer competitive environment for SMEs and developing economies. Anticipated benefits include stronger verification of sustainability claims, greater efficiency in reporting, improved business data sovereignty, and enhanced consumer confidence. Over time, harmonized data exchange and transparent value chains are expected to advance sustainable trade and economic growth.

The recommendation was produced under the UN/CEFACT project “Transparency at Scale – Digital Solutions for Trust, Resilience and Sustainability,” launched in May 2023. This initiative supports UNECE’s cross-cutting focus on advancing circular and digital transformations for sustainable development, contributing to national implementation of Sustainable Development Goal 12 on sustainable consumption and production through value-chain traceability.

Hosted by UNECE in Geneva, UN/CEFACT is a leading platform for shaping global norms in digital trade. The adoption of Recommendation No. 49 marks a significant step towards enabling the sharing of essential information across global supply chains in an inclusive and accessible manner.

Grounded in UN/CEFACT’s established norms and data exchange standards—including UN/CCL, UN/EDIFACT, and UN/LOCODE—Recommendation No. 49 underpins the creation of Digital Product Passports (DPPs) by providing the policy and data-governance framework for interoperable, verifiable, and machine-readable ESG data in line with international standards.

To put Recommendation No. 49 into practice, UNECE is developing the United Nations Transparency Protocol (UNTP)—a decentralized, open, technology-neutral framework enabling secure, verifiable ESG data exchange among companies, certifiers, and regulators. As a key actor in global DPP standardization, UN/CEFACT is building the UNTP in collaboration with partners worldwide.