This policy paper highlights strategies to improve the traceability in global value chains for the transition to a circular economy in the UNECE region and beyond. It discusses the importance of traceability in material and product life cycles to enhance repairability, reusability, and recyclability. Derived recommendations offer a comprehensive guide for governments to champion the circular economy, emphasizing the need for value chain analysis, stakeholder engagement, learning from global best practices, and the adoption of common standards. Such recommendations can also inform capacity-building and technical assistance programmes that target micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries and countries with economies in transition, to support better access to high value markets.