US contraceptive stockpile can no longer be used, says Belgium

Millions of dollars of birth-control supplies bought by the United States and held in Belgium en route to poorer countries can no longer be used, Belgian authorities have said.

The contraceptives were purchased by US aid agency USAID under former president Joe Biden for women in some of the world's poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The agency was dismantled after the return to the White House of President Donald Trump, whose government demanded the supplies be destroyed -- sparking a months-long diplomatic standoff.

The government of Belgium's Dutch-speaking Flanders said 20 of the 24 truckloads of pills, shots and other birth control were not stored properly and could no longer be used.

In written answers to questions from a lawmaker, Flemish environment minister Jo Brouns said the supplies -- worth a reported $9.7 million -- were initially held at a warehouse in Geel, northern Belgium under pharmaceutical-compliant conditions.

But an inspection in August revealed most had been moved to another facility "not specifically equipped for the storage of medicines".

The country's Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products later confirmed that the related contraceptives could no longer "be put back into circulation due to non-compliant storage", Brouns wrote.

Medical devices such as syringes as well as the entirety of the four shipments still held in Geel were instead usable, he added in replies sent last month, which were posted online Monday and surfaced on Wednesday.

In September, the New York Times cited USAID as claiming that the US government had destroyed the products -- a claim denied at the time by Belgium.

Trump's administration reinstated a policy that bans providing aid to non-governmental organisations that promote or perform abortions.

USAID has incorrectly described the contraceptive products involved as "abortifacient" -- meaning they induce abortion -- as a rationale for their destruction.

For months Brussels has tried to persuade the US not to go ahead with the planned incineration, which women's rights groups called "insane" and Belgian foreign minister Maxime Prevot a "waste".