To amend the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972 to allow importation of polar bear trophies taken in sport hunts in Canada before the date the polar bear was determined to be a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.

It would let people with proof of legal harvest from before Feb. 18, 1997, or from before May 15, 2008 for eligible populations, apply to import most polar bear parts and get permits quickly.

• Hunters and private importers: People who can prove they legally harvested a polar bear before Feb. 18, 1997, or before May 15, 2008 for populations covered under existing rules, would be eligible to receive permits to import parts other than internal organs.
• Federal administration: The Secretary of the Interior would be required to issue those permits expeditiously after the applicable 30-day period and could exempt them from several standard regulatory requirements and certain statutory sections for the specified pre-dating imports.
• Rule and eligibility effect: The bill keeps the general import prohibition but creates a limited, mechanics-based carve-out that relies on historic-harvest proof and references existing eligibility rules under 50 C.F.R. §18.30(i) for the pre-2008 pathway.