A prescription for conservation: Strengthening Japan's role in curbing the illegal international trade of bear bile for medicinal use

Although all species of bear are included in the Appendices of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora ('CITES'), the illegal international trade in bear parts and derivatives continues to exert pressure on bear populations. In East Asia, a major driver of this trade is the demand for bear bile for medicinal use. Japan sits in a unique position in that its populations of bears remain relatively healthy, despite the continued use of bear bile. As a result, Japan's domestic trade in bear bile remains largely unregulated. The article explores Japan's contribution to curbing the illegal international trade in bear bile. It argues that, while Japan imposes the import restrictions required by CITES, its failure to regulate the internal trade of bear bile weakens the country's import controls by allowing illegally imported bile to slip into an unregulated domestic market. Regulatory options for improving this situation are examined, and suggestions made as to how Japan's existing legislation could be used to prevent domestic trade in illegally imported bear bile in a manner that additionally benefits Japan's own bear populations.