diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 62ad051feef..fc81c8af4b9 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@ release.
 
 - Added `OTEL_EXPORTER_JAEGER_TIMEOUT` environment variable. ([#1612](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1612))
 - Added `OTEL_EXPORTER_ZIPKIN_TIMEOUT` environment variable. ([#1636](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1636))
+- Added Suppress Tracing context key. ([#1653](https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-specification/pull/1653))
 
 ### Traces
 
diff --git a/spec-compliance-matrix.md b/spec-compliance-matrix.md
index ee90e5ef2aa..02e7b21c823 100644
--- a/spec-compliance-matrix.md
+++ b/spec-compliance-matrix.md
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ formats is required. Implementing more than one format is optional.
 | events collection size limit                                                                     |          | +  | +    | +  | +      | +    | -      |     | +    | +   | -    | +     |
 | attribute collection size limit                                                                  |          | +  | +    | +  | +      | +    | -      |     | +    | +   | -    | +     |
 | links collection size limit                                                                      |          | +  | +    | +  | +      | +    | -      |     | +    | +   | -    | +     |
+| `SuppressTracing` context flag                                                                   |          |    |      |    |        |      |        |     |      |     |      |       |
 | [Span attributes](specification/trace/api.md#set-attributes)                                     |          |    |      |    |        |      |        |     |      |     |      |       |
 | SetAttribute                                                                                     |          | +  | +    | +  | +      | +    | +      | +   | +    | +   | +    | +     |
 | Set order preserved                                                                              | X        | +  | -    | +  | +      | +    | +      | +   | +    | +   | +    | +     |
diff --git a/specification/trace/api.md b/specification/trace/api.md
index 942f808956f..33a4a5eb781 100644
--- a/specification/trace/api.md
+++ b/specification/trace/api.md
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ Table of Contents
 * [TracerProvider](#tracerprovider)
   * [TracerProvider operations](#tracerprovider-operations)
 * [Context Interaction](#context-interaction)
+  * [Suppress Tracing](#suppress-tracing)
 * [Tracer](#tracer)
   * [Tracer operations](#tracer-operations)
 * [SpanContext](#spancontext)
@@ -145,6 +146,8 @@ instance:
 
 - Extract the `Span` from a `Context` instance
 - Insert the `Span` to a `Context` instance
+- Set a `SuppressTracing` flag on a `Context` instance
+- Unset the `SuppressTracing` flag on a `Context` instance
 
 The functionality listed above is necessary because API users SHOULD NOT have
 access to the [Context Key](../context/context.md#create-a-key) used by the Tracing API implementation.
@@ -160,6 +163,14 @@ All the above functionalities operate solely on the context API, and they MAY be
 exposed as either static methods on the trace module, or as static methods on a class
 inside the trace module. This functionality SHOULD be fully implemented in the API when possible.
 
+### Suppress Tracing
+
+In some cases it may be useful to temporarily suppress tracing.
+For example, this may be used to prevent span exports from being traced and exported,
+or by an instrumentation which wraps a lower-level package which may also be
+instrumented in order to prevent duplicate spans. To see how tracing is suppressed,
+see [SDK Span creation](./sdk.md#sdk-span-creation).
+
 ## Tracer
 
 The tracer is responsible for creating `Span`s.
@@ -344,6 +355,9 @@ The API MUST accept the following parameters:
 
   The semantic parent of the Span MUST be determined according to the rules
   described in [Determining the Parent Span from a Context](#determining-the-parent-span-from-a-context).
+
+  If the `Context` key described in [Suppress Tracing](#suppress-tracing) is set to true,
+  the newly created `Span` should be a non-recording `Span` with an invalid `SpanContext`.
 - [`SpanKind`](#spankind), default to `SpanKind.Internal` if not specified.
 - [`Attributes`](../common/common.md#attributes). Additionally,
   these attributes may be used to make a sampling decision as noted in [sampling
diff --git a/specification/trace/sdk.md b/specification/trace/sdk.md
index e09f44b51c4..56ddbbfd3f3 100644
--- a/specification/trace/sdk.md
+++ b/specification/trace/sdk.md
@@ -183,6 +183,8 @@ When asked to create a Span, the SDK MUST act as if doing the following in order
    A non-recording span MAY be implemented using the same mechanism as when a
    `Span` is created without an SDK installed or as described in
    [wrapping a SpanContext in a Span](api.md#wrapping-a-spancontext-in-a-span).
+   If the [`SuppressTracing`](./api.md#suppress-tracing) `Context` flag is set,
+   the newly created `Span` should be a non-recording `Span`.
 
 ### Sampler