The Chamber of Commerce has issued 36 recommendations for greater efficiency and transparency in the public procurement process.

“There is an institute in place, but there needs to be more enforcement to ensure that bidders who break the law are blacklisted and that this institute is strengthened,” said Clement Mifsud Bonnici, senior associate at Ganado Advocates.

Speaking during the launch, Mifsud Bonnici who was appointed as technical advisor for the report, said the current system is inefficient, with poor enforcement when it comes to blacklisting and banning bidders who break laws.

The Commercial Standards Tribunal received only two complaints for blacklisting bidders in the past five years, he said.   

Mifsud Bonnici led a chamber working group that looked into problems faced by economic operators in public procurement.  

Chamber president David Xuereb said the chamber wanted every economic player to have a fair and equal playing field and for full transparency on the spending of public funds.

Which are the most important recommendations?

Blacklisting: The chamber stressed that enforcement in the public procurement process must be addressed. It recommended that any economic operators or bidders who violate the law should be sanctioned and not allowed to participate in any public procurement or be awarded any public contracts.

This action will reassure consumers the effective use of public funding and promote an ethical market with honest operators.

Direct orders: The chamber does not disagree with the concept of directly awarded public contracts but believes that there should be more transparency and access to the contracts and direct orders. Direct orders should also be subject to scrutiny and judicial challenge by interested parties.

Performance of public contracts: The Malta Chamber recommends that the contract register is to keep tabs on the status of the public contract. The contract register will have access to whether any modifications on the public contract have happened, if any specific milestones were reached by the contractor and whether there were any disputes which have been submitted to judicial resolution.