While the Croatian market is relatively free of overt trade barriers, several realities of the market pose challenges for U.S. exporters to Croatia. Of primary concern is the lack of efficiency in the Croatian judicial system. With a multi-year case backlog, the prosecution of IPR infringements and resolution of commercial disputes is time-consuming and costly.

Companies have complained to the U.S. Commercial Service Croatia about discriminatory technical specifications in public procurement tenders. The complaints cite technical requirements that clearly favor one bidder through narrow specifications and thus prevent participation of other bidders. Companies have also complained that technical scoring gives unfair advantage on unimportant features. This is not barrier specific for U.S. companies, but rather all new companies that would like to enter the market. Government responses have been diverse: in some cases, they addressed the issue promptly, while in others there was no reaction at all.