Sponsors (4)
The bill prioritizes stronger conservation and enforcement to curb trade-driven bear poaching — improving protections and regulatory clarity — at the cost of lost markets and increased legal, administrative, and diplomatic burdens that will affect hunters, small businesses, traditional‑medicine consumers, tribes, and taxpayers.
Rural communities, indigenous groups, consumers, and wildlife benefit because banning interstate and international trade in bear viscera reduces commercial demand that drives poaching and illegal harvest, helping conserve bear populations.
Federal and state enforcement agencies, U.S. negotiators, and conservation groups gain stronger authority and an international coordination mandate to pursue trade restrictions and cooperative measures, improving enforcement and conservation outcomes.
Businesses, regulators, and enforcement personnel get clearer statutory definitions (e.g., ‘bear viscera,’ scope of ‘import’) and explicit enforcement authorities (seizure procedures), reducing some legal ambiguity and enabling more consistent regulation.
Hunters, taxidermists, small businesses, traditional-medicine sellers, and many rural communities lose legal interstate and international markets for bear-viscera products, reducing income and commercial activity.
Individuals and businesses face substantial criminal and civil sanctions — including imprisonment, Title 18 fines, civil penalties up to $25,000 per knowing violation, and risk of seizure/forfeiture — exposing them to severe personal and financial costs.
Broad statutory definitions and an expansive notion of ‘import’ could extend enforcement reach into personal shipments, non‑customs channels, or entities (including foreign instrumentalities), creating legal uncertainty and compliance risk for ordinary businesses and individuals.
Based on analysis of 8 sections of legislative text.
Bans interstate and international trade, sale, possession, and transport of bear viscera and products, with narrow law‑enforcement and Native ritual 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, sale, purchase, possession, transport, delivery, or receipt of bear viscera and products containing bear viscera in interstate or foreign commerce, with a narrow law-enforcement exception for authorized wildlife investigations. Establishes criminal and civil penalties, seizure and forfeiture rules, regulatory authority, and international consultation requirements to support conservation of the eight extant bear species and reduce demand-driven poaching. The bill defines covered terms (including "bear viscera" and "bear viscera product"), directs the Secretary to issue implementing regulations in consultation with Treasury and the U.S. Trade Representative, assigns enforcement roles to federal agencies, and preserves State authority over bear management, lawful hunting, and use of bear viscera in traditional Native American rituals or ceremonies.