Polar bear skin exports may be on the way

Last year, a new so-called NDF assessment of polar bears was released, and with it in hand, the Greenland Government will work to ensure that trappers can legally export polar bear skins, teeth and claws, it is stated in a paragraph 37 response to the Naleraq member of Inatsisartut Mette Arqe-Hammeken.

- However, there are a number of issues that need to be worked on before an export scheme can be started, including, for example, the control element, states Peter Borg, Naalakkersuisut for Fisheries, Hunting, Agriculture, Self-Sustainability and the Environment.

Convention

It is stated that Greenland is a member of the Washington Convention (CITES) under the UN, and is thus obliged to follow the convention's provisions on international trade and transport of endangered animal and plant species. The purpose of CITES is to ensure that international trade does not threaten the survival of species, but takes place in a sustainable manner.

The Greenland Institute of Natural Resources is the scientific CITES authority in Greenland, and in 2025 the institute issued a so-called Non Detriment Finding (NDF) for polar bears. An NDF declaration is a prerequisite for export permits to be granted at all.

Several challenges

However, the road to exporting polar bear skins is paved with several challenges.

Peter Borg states as follows:

- Greenland is a member of CITES through Denmark, and Denmark is a member of the EU, which has competence over trade, and is subject to much stricter regulations for reopening export bans.

It is also stated that countries may have a ban on the import of polar bear skins.

The same answer states that, for example, narwhals do not have an NDF declaration and are therefore subject to an export ban. Narwhal tusks are in high demand, but the catch of narwhals in this country exceeds the sustainability advice and therefore an export option is excluded.

Legal trade in polar bear skins and narwhal tusks can only take place within the country's borders.