Argentina

Comprehensive Legal Reform

• Issue: Argentina lacks a unified public procurement law; instead, it relies on a delegated decree with multiple fragmented regulations and special regimes.
• Recommendations: Enact a comprehensive Public Procurement Law to unify the legal framework, improve clarity, and ensure the application of modern procurement principles such as value for money, sustainability, and competition.

Establishing a National Public Procurement Policy

• Issue: There is no defined national procurement policy, especially for Sustainable Public Procurement (SPP).
• Recommendations: Develop and implement a National Public Procurement Policy, including a specific framework for SPP, with strategic goals, implementation plans, and monitoring mechanisms.

Strengthening the National Procurement Office (ONC)

• Issue: The ONC lacks sufficient resources, legal authority, and institutional strength to function as the central regulatory body.
• Recommendations:
  • Provide ONC with greater legal autonomy and a stronger institutional position to oversee the procurement system effectively.
  • Increase funding, personnel, and technical capacity to allow for better regulation, monitoring, and policy implementation.

Professionalization of Procurement Staff

• Issue: There is no standardized training or certification for procurement professionals, leading to inconsistencies in procurement execution.
• Recommendations:
  • Develop a mandatory training and certification program for procurement officers.
  • Introduce performance indicators to measure procurement staff effectiveness.

Upgrading the COMPR.AR System for Better Data and Integration

• Issue: The COMPR.AR electronic procurement system is underutilized for data analysis and decision-making.
• Recommendations:
  • Improve data collection, processing, and reporting within COMPR.AR.
  • Ensure interoperability with financial management systems and procurement planning tools.
  • Introduce monitoring dashboards for procurement performance.

Strengthening Procurement Planning

• Issue: Procurement planning is inconsistent due to the lack of mandatory alignment with budget allocations.
• Recommendations:
  • Require entities to align procurement plans with budget allocations.
  • Establish clear incentives and penalties for timely procurement planning.

Improving Competition and Supplier Participation

• Issue: Limited competition in procurement processes due to low supplier participation and barriers to entry.
• Recommendations:
  • Simplify supplier registration processes.
  • Provide incentives for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate.
  • Expand market research and supplier outreach before launching procurement processes.

Creating an Independent Mechanism for Procurement Appeals

• Issue: No independent appeal mechanism exists for procurement disputes—appeals are handled by the contracting authority itself, raising concerns about fairness and bias.
• Recommendations:
  • Establish an independent administrative body to review appeals.
  • Remove the requirement for financial guarantees when submitting complaints.

Increasing Transparency and Civil Society Engagement

• Issue: Civil society and the public have limited access to procurement information and minimal participation in monitoring procurement.
• Recommendations:
  • Establish citizen oversight mechanisms for procurement.
  • Improve public access to procurement data and reports.
  • Introduce regular public consultations on procurement reforms.