Sponsors (4)
The bill trades narrower legal markets and stronger federal and international enforcement to reduce demand and poaching of bears — advancing conservation — against real economic, legal, administrative, and diplomatic costs borne mainly by rural businesses, individual possessors, tribunals, and government agencies.
Rural communities, consumers, and wildlife benefit because banning interstate and international trade in bear viscera reduces market demand that drives poaching and illegal harvesting, supporting bear conservation.
Federal agencies, U.S. negotiators, and law enforcement gain clearer authority, definitions, and procedures — including international coordination and seizure powers — improving enforcement effectiveness against illegal bear-viscera trade.
State wildlife agencies, hunters following state law, and Native American individuals and tribes retain important authorities and cultural protections because the bill preserves state management of bears, allows lawful in‑state hunting, and protects traditional tribal uses.
Hunters, taxidermists, small businesses, traditional-medicine sellers, and other rural livelihoods face lost markets, reduced income, and higher compliance costs because interstate and international trade (and broad definitions) are restricted and subject to civil penalties and seizures.
Private individuals and smaller actors who possess or transfer bear viscera risk criminal and civil liability (including imprisonment, fines, and property forfeiture) unless narrowly exempted, increasing legal exposure for lawful possessors and cultural practitioners.
Federal agencies and taxpayers could face higher administrative, enforcement, and diplomatic costs — and shifted enforcement priorities — to implement, monitor, and coordinate the ban and related international engagement.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Prohibits interstate and international import, export, sale, possession, and transport of bear viscera and products containing bear viscera, with limited law‑enforcement and tribal ceremonial exceptions.
Official title: To conserve global bear populations by prohibiting the importation, exportation, and interstate trade of bear viscera and bear viscera products, and for other purposes.
Introduced July 9, 2026 by Michael T. McCaul · Last progress July 9, 2026
Prohibits the import, export, interstate sale, purchase, transport, possession, or receipt of bear viscera and products containing bear viscera, with a narrow law‑enforcement exception and protections for traditional Native American ritual use. It directs the Secretary of the Interior to issue implementing regulations, coordinates with trade and customs officials, authorizes civil and criminal penalties for knowing violations, and requires ongoing discussions with foreign governments to reduce international trade in bear viscera. The bill’s aim is to reduce commercial demand that can drive poaching and population declines among the world’s eight extant bear species and to align U.S. domestic law with CITES goals. It preserves state authority over hunting and bear-management and explicitly exempts traditional Native American ceremonial uses of bear viscera.