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Third-party conformity assessment

Valutazione di conformità di terza parte

Third-party conformity assessment is the procedure through which an independent, accredited body, external to the AI system's provider, verifies that the system meets applicable regulatory requirements before it can be placed on the market. It differs from internal conformity assessment, in which the provider itself self-certifies the system's compliance without involving an external party.

Definition

How it works

The EU AI Act requires third-party conformity assessment only for a specific subset of high-risk systems, generally those with a more significant or less standardizable impact, while for most high-risk systems internal self-assessment is permitted, provided it is documented and based on recognized technical standards. The third-party body, called a notified body, examines the technical documentation, may request additional testing, and issues a conformity certificate with limited validity in time.

Applications

For companies whose systems fall within the scope of third-party assessment, this entails longer certification times and additional costs compared to self-assessment, but it also offers greater legal robustness and higher credibility in the eyes of customers and investors, since compliance does not rest on the provider's word alone.

History & etymology

The mechanism mirrors an established model in European product regulation, where for decades high-risk devices such as implantable medical equipment or elevators have been verified by independent bodies before being allowed to circulate in the single market, now applying the same external-control logic to the most sensitive algorithmic systems.

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