Article 22 requires a provider established outside the Union, before placing a high-risk AI system on the Union market, to appoint, by written mandate, an authorised representative established in the Union. The mandate must empower the representative to perform the tasks in Article 22, including keeping documentation available, providing information to authorities, and cooperating with authorities. The provider must ensure the representative is established in the Union, is mandated in writing, and has the information and access needed to perform the mandated tasks. The appointment does not transfer the provider's responsibility for the system, and the mandate cannot include the provider's core duties such as design, manufacture, technical documentation preparation, or conformity assessment in the way the article limits it.
When must a provider appoint an authorised representative?
The duty applies to a provider of a high-risk AI system that is established outside the Union, before placing the system on the Union market. The provider must appoint the representative before the market act, not after the system is already supplied. The representative must be established in the Union, so that authorities have a Union-based contact who can provide documentation and cooperate. A provider established in the Union does not need an authorised representative under Article 22 on those facts, although it may appoint agents for other purposes. A provider that moves establishment, or that places systems through a Union subsidiary, should reassess the appointment on the new facts, because the duty turns on establishment and market placement, not on the provider's headquarters label alone.
What must the written mandate contain?
The mandate must be in writing and must empower the representative to perform the tasks specified in Article 22. Those tasks include keeping a copy of the EU declaration of conformity, the technical documentation, and, where applicable, the certificate issued by the notified body, available to authorities; providing authorities, on a reasoned request, with all information and documentation necessary to demonstrate conformity; cooperating with authorities on action to eliminate risks; and, where the mandate provides, complying with the registration obligation. The mandate should name the systems covered, the representative's contact details, the duration, the information the provider will supply, and the process for updating the mandate when a system changes. A generic mandate that does not name the systems or the tasks is unlikely to evidence the appointment.
For the broader regulatory framework, see provider responsibilities.
What cannot be delegated to the representative?
The mandate cannot transfer the provider's core responsibilities for the system. The authorised representative does not become the provider, does not design or manufacture the system, and does not prepare the technical documentation or carry out the conformity assessment on the provider's behalf in a way that relieves the provider of those duties. The representative's role is to hold documentation, provide information, and cooperate with authorities, as mandated. A provider that treats the representative as a substitute for its own quality, documentation and conformity work misunderstands the role. The contract should state clearly that the provider remains responsible for the system, and should allocate the information flow that allows the representative to perform its mandated tasks.
What information must flow to the representative?
The provider must supply the representative with the documentation, the declaration, the certificates, and the information needed to answer authority requests, and must keep that information current. Where a system is updated, the representative should receive the updated documentation and declaration without delay, so that an authority request is answered from the current file. The provider should also inform the representative of serious incidents, corrective actions, and authority contacts that affect the mandated tasks. The information flow should be tested: a simulated authority request, answered by the representative from the file supplied, will show whether the mandate works in practice or only on paper.
What happens if the representative cannot perform the mandate?
If the representative cannot obtain the documentation, cannot contact the provider, or cannot cooperate with an authority, the appointment is not effective in practice, even if a mandate document exists. The provider should monitor the appointment, replace a representative that cannot perform, and inform authorities and deployers where the change affects them. Termination of a mandate should be handled with a transition: the outgoing representative should transfer documentation and open authority matters to the incoming representative, and the provider should record the change and its date. A gap in representation, during which no Union-established representative holds the mandate, should be avoided by appointing the successor before terminating the predecessor.
Continue with authorised representative duties under Article 22.
What is not decided by this guide?
This guide explains the provider's appointment duty in outline, from the provider's side. It does not draft a mandate, does not select a representative, and does not decide whether a particular provider needs an appointment. The representative's own duties are addressed in the deployers and actors cluster, and the two guides should be read together. Appointment questions should be confirmed with a competent authority or legal adviser, and the mandate should be reviewed by legal counsel in the Member State where the representative is established, before the system is placed on the market.
Frequently asked questions
Can a distributor act as authorised representative?
A distributor can be appointed as authorised representative only where it is established in the Union, is mandated in writing for the Article 22 tasks, and the roles are kept distinct. The distributor duties and the representative duties are different, and the mandate and the distribution arrangement should be documented separately.
Does appointing a representative transfer provider liability?
No. The provider remains responsible for the system and for its provider duties. The representative performs the mandated tasks of holding documentation, providing information and cooperating with authorities, and does not become the provider.
When must the appointment be made?
Before placing the high-risk system on the Union market, for a provider established outside the Union. The mandate, the documentation and the information flow should be in place before the market act, not arranged afterwards.
Continue through this AI Act cluster
This article is an informational overview, not a legal determination. Check the current legal text and official implementation guidance for your system and role.
Consolidated Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 ↗AI Act Service Desk timeline ↗European Commission regulatory framework for AI ↗