However, the public procurement monitoring system in Bosnia and Herzegovina is only partially developed. Its functioning is hampered by limited access to relevant information, lack of resources of key public institutions that are tasked with monitoring functions – the Public Procurement Agency and the audit offices – and limited capacities of civil society organizations to undertake independent monitoring of the public procurement system.

This policy brief seeks to assess the current public procurement monitoring system in BiH, examine the main functions, challenges and constraints in the monitoring of public procurement processes, as well as to explore the role of different actors in this field, including governmental institutions and non-governmental organizations. To that end, this policy brief reviews relevant concepts and main principles of public procurement monitoring, as well as international standards and comparative practices.

For the purpose of analyzing the current legal and institutional framework for monitoring in BiH, several sources have been consulted, including laws and bylaws regulating the monitoring of public procurement in BiH, reports by relevant institutions in this field, as well as observations and comments from representatives of public institutions and the business sector in BiH articulated at an expert debate on the subject, organized in May 2016. As a result, specific recommendations as to how the current public procurement monitoring system in BiH can be bolstered are provided.