The guidelines for National Systems should cover the elements relevant to institutional arrangements which are described in the following paragraphs. The National System will cover a wide variety of activities, which are dealt with in each country by a large number of organisations, sometimes private and sometimes public, with very different fields of expertise. The national institutional structure and organisation may vary widely from country to country due to historical reasons which result in different schemes for public service organisation. As a consequence, in order to apply to all Annex I Parties, guidelines on National Systems must remain at a functional level. Guidance should also be given on the interaction between the identified functions, like reporting, control, and, generally speaking, quality management between those functions.
Capacity building is important as a prerequisite for permanent improvement of data quality.
The allocation of the functions to given ministries, civil services, private companies or other organisations is an internal national matter, which must be left to the Parties. However, Parties should report on their internal organisation and the quality assurance and quality control measures which they have implemented. These sources will often be national statistical sources or those directly responsible for the emissions. The estimates should be mutually agreed between those responsible for the emissions and for the National System. T he National System should be used to resolve outstanding issues.