Geel (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – A €8.4 million U.S.-funded contraceptive stockpile in Geel, including millions of condoms, pills, implants, and IUDs, remains in storage as Minister Maxime Prévot seeks to prevent its destruction.
As GVA News reported, a large stockpile of contraceptives funded by the United States is still stored in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium. The supplies are worth about €8.4 million. They include millions of condoms, contraceptive pills, implants, and intrauterine devices.
Earlier reports said the White House ordered the destruction of the supplies. For several months, Belgian officials have been working to prevent this. Flemish authorities say local laws do not allow usable medical products to be destroyed.
Humanitarian organisations warn that destroying the stockpile could lead to hundreds of thousands of unintended pregnancies and more than 700 maternal deaths, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
What will happen to the U.S. contraceptives stored in Geel?
Groups like the Gates Foundation and MSI Reproductive Choices offered to take the supplies and distribute them to women in need. The U.S. government reportedly refused, citing regulatory concerns and certain medications in the stockpile.
Belgian Minister of Development Cooperation, Prévot, spoke about the U.S.-funded contraceptives stored in Geel. He answered questions from MPs Caroline Désir (PS), Sarah Schlitz (Ecolo-Groen), and Kathleen Depoorter (N-VA). The minister said he understands the concern and public outrage over the issue. He confirmed that talks are ongoing with U.S. authorities to try to stop the destruction of the supplies.
The minister also explained the legal limits in the case. The contraceptives still belong to the United States, and Belgium cannot take them without U.S. approval.
“Seizure is only possible with the consent of the owning state,”
he said.
In early 2025, a large stockpile of U.S.-funded contraceptives and HIV-prevention medicines was stored in a warehouse in Geel, Belgium. They were meant for women in low-income countries, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In January 2025, President Donald Trump froze foreign aid and restructured USAID, leaving the stockpile’s future uncertain. By July 2025, reports said the U.S. planned to destroy the supplies, citing rules on the use of funds and the Mexico City policy.
