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Praxikon
Comparisons

Comparison

Article 23 versus Article 24: importer and distributor

The difference

The importer brings a high-risk AI system into the Union market and has to establish, before that moment, that the provider did their work: the assessment, the documentation, the marking and the representation. The distributor sits further down the chain, checks that those documents and that marking are present, and has to act as soon as there is reason to believe the system does not meet the requirements.

The official source remains authoritative. This is general interpretation and not legal advice about your situation.

The fields side by side

Every row comes from the objects themselves. Where a field is empty, it says so; we do not fill in an assumption where the source is silent.

Status

Article 23, importer
Upcoming
Article 24, distributor
Upcoming

Applies from

Article 23, importer
2 December 2027
Article 24, distributor
2 December 2027

Who carries the duty

Article 23, importer
Importer
Article 24, distributor
Distributor

Who is affected

Article 23, importer
Not recorded
Article 24, distributor
Not recorded

Who supervises

Article 23, importer
Market surveillance authority
Article 24, distributor
Not recorded

When this applies

Article 23, importer
Applies to importers of high-risk AI systems. For the standalone Annex III route (Article 6(2)) the date is 2 December 2027; for the embedded Annex I route (Article 6(1)) the date is 2 August 2028.
Article 24, distributor
Applies to distributors of high-risk AI systems. For the standalone Annex III route (Article 6(2)) the date is 2 December 2027; for the embedded Annex I route (Article 6(1)) the date is 2 August 2028.

Exceptions

Article 23, importer
If you put your own name or trade mark on the system, substantially modify it, or change the intended purpose so that it becomes high-risk, Article 25(1) treats you as a provider and the duties of Article 16 apply instead of those of Article 23.
Article 24, distributor
If you put your own name or trade mark on the system, substantially modify it, or change the intended purpose so that it becomes high-risk, Article 25(1) treats you as a provider and the duties of Article 16 apply instead of those of Article 24.

First actions

Article 23, importer
Run the four verifications of Article 23(1) before importing
Article 24, distributor
Perform the Article 24(1) check before making available

Evidence that belongs with it

Article 23, importer
Importer dossier with ten-year retention
Article 24, distributor
Distributor log of checks and corrective actions

Control

Article 23, importer
Stop rule and notification route on doubts about conformity
Article 24, distributor
Distributor corrective action, withdrawal and recall control

Version and review status

Article 23, importer
v1.0.0, placed against the official source
Article 24, distributor
v1.0.0, placed against the official source
Article 23: obligations of importersArticle 24: obligations of distributors

Official sources and locators

Per side, the provisions the statements above rest on.

Article 23, importer

Article 24, distributor

Referring to these two objects

Each side has its own stable identifier, version and hash. Take them separately; you cite a comparison by citing the two objects.

Referring to this object

Citation block

Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.

Reference

Praxikon, "Article 23: obligations of importers",
praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-23-importer-obligations@1.0.0,
dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0),
effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z,
sha256 1a3e0958b87d5b96c66eb024898d343fb1a7f570e3fcffbfe56521278f17b278,
https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-23-importer-obligations
(https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-23-importer-obligations&effective_at=2026-08-08&known_at=2026-08-08&lang=en, accessed 2026-08-24)

Short form

praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-23-importer-obligations@1.0.0 (sha256 1a3e0958)

BibTeX

@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-obligation-article-23-importer-obligations-1-0-0,
  author       = {{Praxikon}},
  title        = {Article 23: obligations of importers},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.0.0},
  number       = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-23-importer-obligations},
  howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.1.0, schema 1.4.0},
  note         = {effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 1a3e0958b87d5b96c66eb024898d343fb1a7f570e3fcffbfe56521278f17b278},
  url          = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-23-importer-obligations},
  urldate      = {2026-08-24},
  language     = {en}
}

CSL JSON

[
  {
    "id": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-23-importer-obligations@1.0.0",
    "type": "dataset",
    "title": "Article 23: obligations of importers",
    "container-title": "AI Act Change & Evidence Graph",
    "publisher": "Praxikon",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "number": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-23-importer-obligations",
    "URL": "https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-23-importer-obligations",
    "language": "en",
    "issued": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          8,
          8
        ]
      ]
    },
    "accessed": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          8,
          24
        ]
      ]
    },
    "note": "dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0; schema 1.4.0; effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 1a3e0958b87d5b96c66eb024898d343fb1a7f570e3fcffbfe56521278f17b278; retrieved_from https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-23-importer-obligations&effective_at=2026-08-08&known_at=2026-08-08&lang=en; licence https://www.praxikon.com/nl/legal/terms"
  }
]

How to verify a reference later is set out in the methodology. Terms

Referring to this object

Citation block

Copy this reference into your advice, article or file. The identifier, the version and the hash keep the statement findable later, even once the dataset has moved on.

Reference

Praxikon, "Article 24: obligations of distributors",
praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-24-distributor-obligations@1.0.0,
dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0 (schema 1.4.0),
effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z, known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z,
sha256 97f76fe79b4762a462b986a893ed4abc4685865bbfe1eae0a28589d4f3564419,
https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-24-distributor-obligations
(https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-24-distributor-obligations&effective_at=2026-08-08&known_at=2026-08-08&lang=en, accessed 2026-08-24)

Short form

praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-24-distributor-obligations@1.0.0 (sha256 97f76fe7)

BibTeX

@misc{praxikon-eu-ai-act-obligation-article-24-distributor-obligations-1-0-0,
  author       = {{Praxikon}},
  title        = {Article 24: obligations of distributors},
  year         = {2026},
  version      = {1.0.0},
  number       = {praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-24-distributor-obligations},
  howpublished = {AI Act Change \& Evidence Graph, dataset 2.1.0, schema 1.4.0},
  note         = {effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 97f76fe79b4762a462b986a893ed4abc4685865bbfe1eae0a28589d4f3564419},
  url          = {https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-24-distributor-obligations},
  urldate      = {2026-08-24},
  language     = {en}
}

CSL JSON

[
  {
    "id": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-24-distributor-obligations@1.0.0",
    "type": "dataset",
    "title": "Article 24: obligations of distributors",
    "container-title": "AI Act Change & Evidence Graph",
    "publisher": "Praxikon",
    "version": "1.0.0",
    "number": "praxikon:eu:ai-act:obligation:article-24-distributor-obligations",
    "URL": "https://www.praxikon.com/en/verplichtingen/article-24-distributor-obligations",
    "language": "en",
    "issued": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          8,
          8
        ]
      ]
    },
    "accessed": {
      "date-parts": [
        [
          2026,
          8,
          24
        ]
      ]
    },
    "note": "dataset praxikon:sys:registry:dataset:ai-act-implementation-graph 2.1.0; schema 1.4.0; effective_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; known_at 2026-08-08T00:00:00.000Z; sha256 97f76fe79b4762a462b986a893ed4abc4685865bbfe1eae0a28589d4f3564419; retrieved_from https://www.praxikon.com/api/v1/obligations?id=praxikon%3Aeu%3Aai-act%3Aobligation%3Aarticle-24-distributor-obligations&effective_at=2026-08-08&known_at=2026-08-08&lang=en; licence https://www.praxikon.com/nl/legal/terms"
  }
]

How to verify a reference later is set out in the methodology. Terms

Execution

Get from your supplier what you have to be able to show yourself

When the duty sits with another party in the chain, you need information from that party that you cannot produce yourself. Praxikon does not carry that out; Embed AI translates it into what belongs in the contract and in the supplier documentation.

See the Embed AI approach

Other comparisons

Unsure about your role itself rather than the duties that come with it? Work out whether you are a provider or a deployer