A Distributor under the EU AI Act is a natural or legal person in the supply chain — other than the provider or the importer — that makes an AI system available on the Union market. "Making available" means supplying an AI system for distribution or use in the course of a commercial activity, whether for payment or free of charge. In plain terms, the Distributor is a link in the chain that passes an AI system onward toward the market or its users, without having built the system or brought it in from outside the EU. The role is defined in Article 3(7) of the EU AI Act, and it carries specific verification duties for high-risk AI systems.
Who counts as a Distributor
The EU AI Act builds its obligations around a set of defined economic operators — the provider, the importer, the Distributor, and the deployer. Each role is defined by what a party actually does with the system, not by its job title or its size. A single company can occupy more than one role across different products, and roles can shift as circumstances change.
The Distributor is deliberately defined by exclusion. It is any party in the supply chain that makes an AI system available on the EU market and is neither the provider nor the importer. Typical examples are resellers, retailers, and channel partners that offer an AI system to customers without having developed it and without being the entity that first brought it in from a third country.
The distinguishing test
To identify a Distributor, work through what the party is doing:
- Is it the provider? A provider develops an AI system — or has one developed — and places it on the market or puts it into service under its own name or trademark. If a party is marketing the system as its own, it is a provider, not a Distributor.
- Is it the importer? An importer is established in the EU and is the first party to place on the EU market an AI system that bears the name or trademark of an entity established in a third country. The importer is the entry point for non-EU systems.
- Otherwise, it is a Distributor. A party that is part of the supply chain, makes the system available on the Union market, but is neither of the above is a Distributor.
The contrast with the importer is the one most often confused. The importer is the specific party that first brings a third-country system into the EU. Everyone else further down the chain who then makes that system available — the reseller who buys from the importer and sells to end customers — is a Distributor. The contrast with the provider is cleaner: the provider is the party whose name is on the system as its originator or marketer.
A Distributor's duties for high-risk AI
For most AI systems, a Distributor's obligations are light. The substantive duties attach to high-risk AI systems, where the Distributor acts as a verification checkpoint before the system moves further toward the market. Before making a high-risk AI system available, a Distributor must:
- Verify the CE marking. Confirm that the high-risk AI system bears the required CE marking of conformity.
- Verify the accompanying documentation. Confirm that the system is accompanied by the EU declaration of conformity and by the instructions for use.
- Verify upstream compliance. Confirm that the provider and, where applicable, the importer have complied with their respective obligations under the Act (for example, that the provider has drawn up technical documentation and that the importer has fulfilled its own duties).
Beyond that pre-market check, a Distributor must:
- Not make available a non-conforming system. Where a Distributor considers or has reason to consider that a high-risk AI system is not in conformity with the Act, it must not make the system available until it has been brought into conformity.
- Protect conformity in storage and transport. Ensure that, while the system is under its responsibility, storage or transport conditions do not jeopardize the system's compliance with the Act's requirements.
- Act on non-conformity after making available. Where a Distributor later considers a system it has made available to be non-conforming, it must take the corrective actions necessary to bring it into conformity, withdraw it, or recall it — and inform the relevant parties and authorities.
- Cooperate with authorities. Provide competent authorities, on request, with the information and documentation needed to demonstrate the system's conformity, and cooperate on any action taken.
These duties make the Distributor a practical gatekeeper: a system that reaches the market missing its CE marking, its declaration of conformity, or its instructions should be caught at the distribution stage.
How the Distributor relates to the other roles
The Distributor sits between the parties that create or import a system and the parties that ultimately use it:
- Provider. Bears the primary compliance burden — designing the system, ensuring conformity, and drawing up documentation. The Distributor relies on and verifies that work rather than repeating it.
- Importer. Sits upstream of the Distributor for non-EU systems, as the first EU-market entry point. A Distributor further along the chain checks that the importer met its obligations.
- Authorised representative. A non-EU provider must appoint an authorised representative in the EU to act on its behalf. The Distributor may need to interact with this representative when questions of conformity arise.
- Deployer. The party that uses the AI system under its own authority. The Distributor typically makes the system available toward deployers but does not itself put it into use.
When a Distributor becomes a Provider
The roles are not permanent labels. Under Article 25 of the EU AI Act, a Distributor — like an importer, deployer, or other third party — is treated as a provider of a high-risk AI system, and takes on the provider's full obligations, if it:
- puts its own name or trademark on a high-risk AI system already placed on the market or put into service (subject to any contractual arrangement to the contrary), or
- makes a substantial modification to a high-risk AI system in a way that it remains high-risk, or
- modifies the intended purpose of a system so that it becomes high-risk.
A Distributor that white-labels a high-risk system or materially reworks it therefore steps into the far heavier provider role — a shift worth understanding before rebranding or altering any high-risk AI system.
Related terms
The Distributor is one of several economic-operator roles the EU AI Act defines. To see how the supply chain fits together, read the entries on the importer, the provider, and the deployer or operator. For the wider framework these roles sit within, see the overview of the EU AI Act and the practical EU AI Act guide.
This entry is an educational explainer, not legal advice, and it does not guarantee compliance with any obligation. Classifying a role under the EU AI Act depends on the specific facts of each supply chain — organizations should assess their own position and seek qualified advice where needed.
