Belgian Authorities Say $10 Million Supply of Birth Control Has Not Yet Been Destroyed

The Trump administration told The New York Times on Thursday that it had destroyed millions of dollars’ worth of birth control pills and other contraceptives destined for people in low-income countries. But when the authorities in Belgium, responding to the report in The Times, obtained authorization to enter the warehouse that had been holding the supplies on Friday morning, the stockpile was still there, an official in the Flanders region said.

Local authorities “carried out on-site inspections this morning and found that no cargoes had been diverted for incineration,” said Tom Demeyer, a spokesman for the Flemish minister with jurisdiction over the issue.

On Thursday, a Times reporter sent an email to the State Department via its official media-inquiry address asking if the contraceptives had been destroyed or moved. A spokeswoman for U.S.A.I.D., Rachel Cauley, replied that the contraceptives had been destroyed.

On Friday morning, Ms. Cauley did not reply to calls, texts and emails. Russell Vought, the director of the White House Office of Management and Budget and the official in charge of the matter, directed questions back to Ms. Cauley. Ms. Cauley is also director of communications for O.M.B. and worked at the agency in the first Trump administration as well.

On Friday afternoon, shortly after this article was published, Ms. Cauley sent an email saying, “There was a miscommunication with international staff and no destruction has yet happened but we are reviewing the matter.”

The statement from U.S.A.I.D. that the contraceptives had been destroyed came as a surprise to the authorities in Belgium, including in Flanders, where the contraceptives were housed in a warehouse. In light of the news, the authorities were ordered to search the site. Flanders has a ban on incinerating still-usable medical products. That means the United States would need to request permission to destroy them, which Belgian officials said they had not done.

The back and forth reflects the confusion that continues as the U.S. government works to shut down U.S.A.I.D., pulling back from its long-held role in aiding development around the world, and as global health services become more politicized.

It also illustrates the geopolitical sensitivity of the issue: While the Trump administration has been pushing to destroy the contraceptives, officials in Belgium have been hoping to facilitate their sale or transfer so that they could eventually be used in low-income countries.