Global Taxonomy Initiative (GTI) National Focal Points have been nominated by many Governments in response to the invitations by the Conference of the Parties. For Governments that have not nominated GTI National Focal Points, the default contact is the National Focal Point for the Convention. A general search tool is also available for all types of focal points under the Convention.

Only about one-third of Parties have nominated GTI National Focal Points. At its eighth meeting in March 2006, the COP again urged Parties and Governments that have not yet done so to nominate GTI National Focal Points, and the Executive Secretary conveyed this message in May 2006 in Notification 2006-026.

The general role of GTI National Focal Points is to:

• Develop linkages and facilitating information exchange in order to advance the implementation of the GTI at national level;
  
• Respond to requests for input from the Conference of the Parties and the Secretariat related to the GTI;
  
• Communicate and collaborate with other GTI National Focal Points to facilitate implementation of the GTI at sub-regional, regional and global levels;
  
• Collaborate with other national-level focal points for the Convention and focal points from other biodiversity-related conventions to facilitate implementation and mainstreaming of the GTI at national level.

A detailed list of suggested actions by GTI National Focal Points towards implementing the programme of work for the GTI was developed by the GTI Coordination Mechanism and conveyed to Parties and Governments in 2004 in Notification 2004-073.

Some GTI National Focal Points have established national GTI websites as follows:

Argentina

Belgium

Germany

Japan

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland