With financial support from the Directorate-General for International Partnerships (DG INTPA) and developed under the United Nations Centre for Trade Facilitation and Electronic Business (UN/CEFACT), Recommendation No. 49 provides policy guidance to strengthen trust, accountability and efficiency in international trade and production systems by improving the quality and exchange of sustainability information. It emphasizes that such information should be accurate, verifiable, interoperable, accessible and privacy-preserving, while remaining under the control of value chain actors. The Recommendation identifies practical areas for action, including developing national policies, deploying supporting instruments and digital infrastructures, establishing government services, and encouraging broad stakeholder uptake. It aims to reduce compliance costs and complexity, support risk-based due diligence, facilitate market access and competitiveness, and create a level playing field, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).