In order to best safeguard U.S.-taxpayer funded commodities, we are alerting USAID about the need to provide final disposition instructions to its contractor, Chemonics International, for $9.7 million in family planning commodities stored in Belgium. We estimate that USAID has paid over $360,000 in storage and transportation costs for these commodities since January 2025 and will continue to incur monthly storage costs of over $24,000 under the now-terminated award until final disposition is complete. Further, absent disposition instructions, commodities valued at $1.7 million may expire, and USAID risks paying additional costs due to a prolonged award closeout process.
We initiated work on this management advisory in response to a bipartisan request from Senators Murkowski and Shaheen, who asked the USAID and Department of State Offices of Inspector General (OIGs) to examine “the disposition of $9.7 million in family planning commodities, which were stored for global disbursement at a warehouse in Geel, Belgium.”
USAID leadership did not respond to our inquiries regarding their decision to retain the family planning commodities or their delay in completing final disposition. While we did not make recommendations to the Agency, we emphasized the importance of providing Chemonics with timely final disposition instructions for the family planning commodities stored in Belgium. This will allow USAID to mitigate the risks of accruing costs, approaching expiration dates, and a prolonged award closeout.