---
title: "Distributor"
description: "Under the EU AI Act, a person in the supply chain, other than the provider or the importer, who makes an AI system available on the Union market."
canonical: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/distributor
author: "Jorge García Aibar"
license: "CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)"
doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.22956197
version: "0.5.0"
updated: 2026-09-25
---

# Distributor

Under the EU AI Act, a person in the supply chain, other than the provider or the importer, who makes an AI system available on the Union market. It checks the marking and documents and holds back high-risk systems it believes do not conform [1].

- Developed in: [ch. 18, The EU operator roles](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/eu-ai-act#the-eu-operator-roles)
- Chapters: [ch. 18, EU AI Act](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/eu-ai-act)
- Contrast with: [Importer](https://aigovernanceengineer.com/glossary/importer)
- In the glossary chapter: https://aigovernanceengineer.com/bok/glossary#t-distributor

## Sources

[1] Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 (AI Act), consolidated text as amended by Regulation (EU) 2026/1744 (Digital Omnibus on AI, in force 27 Jul 2026; definitions in Art. 3, incl. 3(1), 3(3) to 3(14), 3(14b), 3(20), 3(22), 3(23), 3(29) to 3(32), 3(49), 3(55) to 3(57), 3(60), 3(61), 3(63), 3(68); Arts. 4, 5, 6 (incl. 6(3) third subparagraph, profiling), 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17, 22 to 27 (incl. 26(11)), 40, 41, 43, 47, 48, 50, 53 (incl. 53(1)(c)), 55, 57, 60, 72, 73, 86; Annexes I, III, IV). Publications Office of the EU (EUR-Lex). 2026-07-27. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/1689/2026-07-27/eng (verified: primary)