The contraceptives were purchased by the United States (US) foreign aid agency USAID under former president Joe Biden to be given to women in some of the world’s poorest countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.

The agency was dismantled by President Donald Trump’s administration after he returned to office in January.

The New York Times, citing a USAID spokeswoman, reported on Thursday that the women’s contraception products were destroyed.

It described the products as pills, intrauterine devices and hormonal implants.

“President Trump is committed to protecting the lives of unborn children all around the world,” the USAID spokeswoman said in the NYT report and described the products as “abortifacient birth control.”

Belgium’s Foreign Minister Maxime Prevot had told AFP last week: “We continue through diplomatic channels to vigorously advocate against such waste.”

The contraception products had been stored in a warehouse in Belgium for months after the Trump administration reinstated a policy this year that prohibits providing aid to non-governmental organisations that promote or perform abortions.

Several NGOs, including the Gates Foundation and the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, had offered to buy or accept the supplies as donations, the NYT reported, citing internal documents.

Instead, officials ordered the destruction at an estimated cost of $167,000, the report said.

It is not clear where the contraceptives were destroyed, although media reports in July said the unexpired products were set to be incinerated in France by a company that specialises in destroying medical waste.

The US plan had provoked outcry in France, where rights groups and left-wing politicians called on their governments to save the contraceptives.