From Policy to Proof: Building Transparency at Scale in Global Trade

Global trade runs on systems that were never designed to work together.

Trade, supply chain, and compliance systems across industries and regions operate differently and do not easily interoperate, which limits how information can be shared and trusted.

This matters because trade also runs on claims that impact price, purchase decisions, market access and more. For example:

• This product is from this place
• This product is made up of these parts
• This product is sustainable
• This supplier is compliant
• This material is ethically sourced

Of course, anyone can make a claim, and false or unsubstantiated claims often go unchecked.

This has created a distorted market where organisations doing the right thing carry higher costs, while bad actors can compete effectively and even outperform those investing in doing better.

As its title suggests, Rec 49 has been created not only to enable transparency at scale, but to foster sustainable supply chains.

The timing for Rec 49 is driven by growing pressure to provide reliable, comparable, and verifiable information about products and supply chains. This comes from:

• Consumers, regulators, and markets demanding transparency and sustainability
• Inconsistent or unverified sustainability claims and the need to combat greenwashing
• Difficulty tracing impacts across complex supply chains
• Evolving regulation, rising compliance costs and fragmented reporting

Rec 49 addresses this at the policy level by defining how transparency can function across systems.

It sets out how transparency can work at scale through standardised, decentralised approaches to data, verification, and interoperability across systems, industries, and borders.

The goal is a “race to the top” where organisations compete based on what they can prove, and companies with genuine, evidence-based sustainability practices gain market share and recognition versus those that don’t.

“Transparency becomes something organisations can use to differentiate and compete.”

Rec 49 through the 3 Pillars of Trust Architecture

Rec 49 is a policy document. For it to be enacted, it must work commercially and be supported by technology that operates in the real world. The Recommendation defines what needs to exist, but not how it comes together in practice or who is responsible for making it happen.

At Pyx, we describe that role as a Trust Architect and frame Trust Architecture work through three pillars: policy, business, and technology.

Policy: setting the conditions

Rec 49 provides policy-level guidance on how governments can:

1. Develop a national policy for transparency at scale
2. Implement supporting instruments for the national policy on transparency at scale
3. Develop government services in support of the national policy
4. Promote the uptake of the national policy

Trust Architects operating at this level will work with policymakers and regulators to interpret Rec 49’s guidance, shape implementation approaches, and ensure that policy settings are aligned with broader considerations such as risk profiles, market requirements, and the regulatory environment.

Business: making it commercially viable

Policy must also be translated into real-world systems and workflows.

Transparency today is often treated as a cost. Rec 49 reframes it as something that can create value.

• A way to demonstrate quality
• A way to build trust with customers
• A way to compete
• A way to publish information once and reuse it multiple times

Trust Architects will work with organisations to align commercial incentives with transparency outcomes, design viable adoption pathways, and ensure that transparency creates measurable business value.

It is worth noting that by following Rec 49 and its implementation framework, UNTP, organisations do not need to wait for the entire system to mature, because implementation can begin at any point in the value chain.

• A business can start without waiting for its partners to catch up
• An industry can move without waiting for global alignment
• Work can begin with a single digital product passport or certification

From there, it can build incrementally.

Technology: making it executable

The implementation of open tools that work across systems requires technical capabilities.

Trust Architects operating at this level will design and implement the technical foundations that make claims verifiable, portable, and usable across systems. This includes:

• Verifiable digital claims
• Trusted identifiers (people, products, places, processes)
• Interoperable data exchange

Since terms like “verifiable credentials” or “verifiable claims” can quickly become abstract, such concepts need to be translated into something tangible.

This is where practical tools such as digital product passports come in. They make verifiable data visible and usable in ways people can understand and act on.

At its core, the technological approach of Rec 49 is decentralised and open architecture, designed to avoid future lock-in, bottlenecks and monopolies.

Rec 49 takes this position because global trade cannot converge on a single platform or centralised system. Organisations cannot be expected to hand over control of their data. Instead, Rec 49 sets out approaches that allow participants to keep control of their data while still enabling trust to be verified and shared across systems.

This approach also creates the conditions for Trust Architects and solution providers to build services and technical products on top of shared protocols, where interoperability comes from following Rec 49 guidance and UNTP, and differentiation comes from how those foundations are applied.

Join Us

“Trust Architects will create value in national economies, by designing and implementing the technology and digital layers that make the policy of ‘transparency at scale’ real.”

Rec 49 is the foundation for an ecosystem that is beginning to take shape as a set of aligned efforts designed to solve real problems in global trade transparency. More on that here.

The policies are defined. The conditions are there. The tools are emerging.
What happens next depends on the Trust Architects who start building.

Watch the Pyx Trust Architecture Education Series Webinar #2 – Rec 49 Explainer

This article draws directly from our Rec 49 explainer webinar, covering policy, business, and technology perspectives.

Prefer to watch the full session? It’s on our YouTube channel:

• Part 1
• Part 2

Discuss this topic

If you’re thinking about how Rec 49 applies to your organisation, industry, or jurisdiction, you’re not alone.

Join the discussion at chat.pyx.io.