Zürcher Nachrichten - France says it cannot save contraceptives US plans to destroy

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

But France's health ministry told AFP Friday there was no legal way for it to intervene.

The administration of Biden's successor Donald Trump, which has slashed USAID and pursued anti-abortion policies, confirmed last month it planned to destroy the contraceptives, which have been stored in a warehouse in the Belgian city of Geel.

According to several media reports, the unexpired products were to be incinerated in France at the end of July by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste.

France's government has come under pressure to save the contraceptives, with women's rights groups calling the US decision "insane".

The health ministry told AFP that the government had "examined the courses of action available to us, but unfortunately there is no legal basis for intervention by a European health authority, let alone the French national drug safety authority, to recover these medical products.

"Since contraceptives are not drugs of major therapeutic interest, and in this case we are not facing a supply shortage, we have no means to requisition the stocks," it added.

The ministry also said it had no information on where the contraceptives would be destroyed.

- Leaving Belgian warehouse -

Sarah Durocher, head of the French women's rights group Family Planning, told AFP that some contraceptives had already left the Belgian warehouse.

"We were informed 36 hours ago that the removal of these boxes of contraceptives had begun," Durocher said Thursday.

"We do not know where these trucks are now -- or whether they have arrived in France," she added.

"We call on all incineration companies not to destroy the contraceptives and to oppose this insane decision."

French company Veolia confirmed to AFP that it had a contract with the US firm Chemonics, USAID's logistics provider.

But Veolia emphasised that the contract concerned "only the management of expired products, which is not the case for the stockpile" in Belgium.

The products, mostly long-acting contraceptives such as IUDs and birth control implants, are reportedly up to five years away from expiring.

- Outrage over decision -

The US decision has provoked an outcry in France, where rights groups and left-wing politicians have called on their government to stop the plan.

"France cannot become the scene of such operations -- a moratorium is essential," an opinion piece in the French daily Le Monde said Friday. Signed by five NGOs, it condemned the "absurdity" of the US decision.

Among them was MSI Reproductive Choices, one of several organisations that have offered to purchase and repackage the contraceptives at no cost to the US government. All offers have been rejected.

Last week, New Hampshire's Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen pointed to the Trump administration's stated goal of reducing government waste, saying the contraceptives plan "is the epitome of waste, fraud and abuse".

A US State Department spokesperson told AFP earlier this week that the destruction of the products would cost $167,000 and "no HIV medications or condoms are being destroyed".

The spokesperson pointed to a policy that prohibits providing aid to non-governmental organisations that perform or promote abortions.

The Mexico City Policy, which critics call the "global gag rule", was first introduced by President Ronald Reagan in 1984. It has been reinstated under every Republican president since.

Last month, the US also incinerated nearly 500 metric tons of high-nutrition biscuits that had been meant to keep malnourished children in Afghanistan and Pakistan alive.

I.Widmer--NZN