diff --git a/system/jlib/jtrace.cpp b/system/jlib/jtrace.cpp
index 807612337b0..618139aacb8 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jtrace.cpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jtrace.cpp
@@ -171,6 +171,7 @@ class CTraceManager : implements ITraceManager, public CInterface
     CTraceManager();
     IMPLEMENT_IINTERFACE
 
+    virtual ISpan * createServerSpan(const char * name, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags, std::chrono::nanoseconds spanStartTime) const override;
     virtual ISpan * createServerSpan(const char * name, StringArray & httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags) const override;
     virtual ISpan * createServerSpan(const char * name, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags) const override;
 
@@ -737,6 +738,16 @@ class CServerSpan : public CSpan
     }
 
 public:
+    CServerSpan(const char * spanName, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags, std::chrono::nanoseconds spanStartTime)
+    : CSpan(spanName)
+    {
+        opts.start_system_time = opentelemetry::common::SystemTimestamp(std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::nanoseconds>(spanStartTime));
+        opts.kind = opentelemetry::trace::SpanKind::kServer;
+        setSpanContext(httpHeaders, flags);
+        init(flags);
+        setContextAttributes();
+    }
+
     CServerSpan(const char * spanName, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags)
     : CSpan(spanName)
     {
@@ -808,6 +819,11 @@ class CServerSpan : public CSpan
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
+std::chrono::nanoseconds nowTimesStampInNanos()
+{
+    return std::chrono::duration_cast<std::chrono::nanoseconds>(std::chrono::system_clock::now().time_since_epoch());
+}
+
 IProperties * getClientHeaders(const ISpan * span)
 {
     Owned<IProperties> headers = createProperties(true);
@@ -1062,6 +1078,10 @@ ISpan * CTraceManager::createServerSpan(const char * name, const IProperties * h
     return new CServerSpan(name, httpHeaders, flags);
 }
 
+ISpan * CTraceManager::createServerSpan(const char * name, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags, std::chrono::nanoseconds spanStartTime) const
+{
+    return new CServerSpan(name, httpHeaders, flags, spanStartTime);
+}
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
diff --git a/system/jlib/jtrace.hpp b/system/jlib/jtrace.hpp
index 7998ffd5c3c..9c3e25d1ba5 100644
--- a/system/jlib/jtrace.hpp
+++ b/system/jlib/jtrace.hpp
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 
 #ifndef JTRACE_HPP
 #define JTRACE_HPP
+#include <chrono>
 
 /**
  * @brief This follows open telemetry's span attribute naming conventions
@@ -62,6 +63,7 @@ extern jlib_decl IProperties * getSpanContext(const ISpan * span);
 
 interface ITraceManager : extends IInterface
 {
+    virtual ISpan * createServerSpan(const char * name, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags, std::chrono::nanoseconds spanStartTime) const = 0;
     virtual ISpan * createServerSpan(const char * name, StringArray & httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags = SpanFlags::None) const = 0;
     virtual ISpan * createServerSpan(const char * name, const IProperties * httpHeaders, SpanFlags flags = SpanFlags::None) const = 0;
     virtual bool isTracingEnabled() const = 0;
@@ -70,6 +72,15 @@ interface ITraceManager : extends IInterface
 extern jlib_decl ISpan * getNullSpan();
 extern jlib_decl void initTraceManager(const char * componentName, const IPropertyTree * componentConfig, const IPropertyTree * globalConfig);
 extern jlib_decl ITraceManager & queryTraceManager();
+extern jlib_decl std::chrono::nanoseconds nowTimesStampInNanos();
+
+#ifdef _USE_CPPUNIT
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/common/attribute_utils.h"
+#include "opentelemetry/sdk/resource/resource.h"
+
+extern jlib_decl void testJLogExporterPrintResources(StringBuffer & out, const opentelemetry::sdk::resource::Resource &resources);
+extern jlib_decl void testJLogExporterPrintAttributes(StringBuffer & out, const std::unordered_map<std::string, opentelemetry::sdk::common::OwnedAttributeValue> & map, const char * attsContainerName);
+#endif
 
 //The following class is responsible for ensuring that the active span is restored in a context when the scope is exited
 //Use a template class so it can be reused for IContextLogger and IEspContext
diff --git a/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp b/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp
index 9918b77c5ef..be7d37375d6 100644
--- a/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp
+++ b/testing/unittests/jlibtests.cpp
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ class JlibTraceTest : public CppUnit::TestFixture
         CPPUNIT_TEST(testNullSpan);
         CPPUNIT_TEST(testClientSpanGlobalID);
         CPPUNIT_TEST(testEnsureTraceID);
+        CPPUNIT_TEST(testDeclaredSpanStartTime);
     CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE_END();
 
     const char * simulatedGlobalYaml = R"!!(global:
@@ -104,6 +105,18 @@ class JlibTraceTest : public CppUnit::TestFixture
 
 protected:
 
+    void testDeclaredSpanStartTime()
+    {
+        std::chrono::nanoseconds nownanos = nowTimesStampInNanos();
+        Owned<IProperties> emptyMockHTTPHeaders = createProperties();
+
+        Owned<ISpan> serverSpan = queryTraceManager().createServerSpan("declaredSpanStartSpan", emptyMockHTTPHeaders, SpanFlags::None,  nownanos);
+
+        Owned<IProperties> retrievedSpanCtxAttributes = createProperties();
+        bool getSpanCtxSuccess = serverSpan->getSpanContext(retrievedSpanCtxAttributes, false);
+        CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL_MESSAGE("Unexpected getSpanContext failure detected", true, getSpanCtxSuccess);
+    }
+
     void testTraceDisableConfig()
     {
         Owned<IPropertyTree> testTree = createPTreeFromYAMLString(disableTracingYaml, ipt_none, ptr_ignoreWhiteSpace, nullptr);
@@ -207,7 +220,6 @@ class JlibTraceTest : public CppUnit::TestFixture
         const char * serverSpanID = retrievedSpanCtxAttributes->queryProp("spanID");
         CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL_MESSAGE("Unexpected empty traceID detected", true, retrievedSpanCtxAttributes->hasProp("traceID"));
         const char * serverTraceID = retrievedSpanCtxAttributes->queryProp("traceID");
-
         {
             Owned<ISpan> internalSpan = serverSpan->createClientSpan("clientSpan");