COP 11, CITES, Nairobi, Kenya, April 10 – 20, 2000

An Unbearable Trade

The trade in bear gallbladders and bile continues to put pressure on endangered bear populations across the globe. All bear species are listed under the Convention’s Appendices, but different CITES Parties have different regulations regarding the bear parts trade. The CITES Secretariat’s document for consideration at COP 11 warns that “Differences in national, federal, state or provincial laws allow for confusion and enforcement difficulties; for example, where trade in bear gall bladders is permitted on a domestic market but import or export is banned.” Since bear parts such as the gallbladder are visually indistinguishable, allowing some legal trade in some bear species’ parts makes strict enforcement of CITES and national bear protection legislation difficult.

The Parties to CITES attempted to address some of the complicating factors in Harare, Zimbabwe in 1997 where they unanimously resolved “that the continued illegal trade in parts and derivatives of bear species undermines the effectiveness of the Convention” and that “poaching may cause declines of wild bears that could lead to the extirpation of certain populations or even species.” Parties were urged “to take immediate action in order to demonstrably reduce the illegal trade in bear parts and derivatives” by, among other actions, “confirming, adopting or improving their national legislation to control the import and export of bear parts and derivatives.” Unfortunately, it seems that few countries, including the U.S., have complied.

A global moratorium on the international trade in bear viscera would help individual CITES Parties protect their resident bears from poaching and smuggling of their parts. Pending legislation in the U.S. Congress, the Bear Protection Act, should be passed and used as a model for the rest of the world.