The change came earlier this month as Congress dropped a requirement that the government buy American-made condoms when possible, with exceptions for price and availability.

Congress traditionally has directed the U.S. Agency for International Development to use American suppliers for the hundreds of millions of condoms it sends into developing countries. The main supplier to benefit from that directive is Alatech Healthcare Products, a southeastern Alabama company with about 300 employees.

Over the years, Alatech became the program’s sole U.S. provider.

USAID says Alatech has had problems filling orders, and there were complaints from the field about the quality of its condoms.

Despite Congress’ direction, the agency has gradually outsourced part of the work to companies in Asia that provide condoms for less than half of Alatech’s price.

Just after Congress omitted “buy American” language for the program in its latest spending bill, USAID quickly signed new contracts with three foreign suppliers and dropped Alatech altogether. The new contractors are in China, South Korea and Malaysia.

“Our responsibility is to provide good stewardship for the taxpayers’ dollars,” said agency spokesman Harry Edwards. “That is what we are trying to do.”

Company President Larry Povlacs said Alatech provided durable condoms at USAID’s request and was never asked to address any complaints about that style. He said USAID simply wanted the cheapest product without regard for his workers in Dothan and Eufaula, Ala.

“I’m faced with telling people that I’ve worked with for 30 years that they may no longer have a job,” Povlacs said.

Gloria Steele, an assistant administrator at USAID, said Alatech’s price of about 5 cents per condom versus 2 cents elsewhere wasn’t competitive, even when using a preferential contracting advantage that agencies give domestic bidders. The work has traditionally been worth between $10 million to $20 million per year, Steele said, with annual production of about 400 million to 500 million condoms.

Povlacs said he had received assurances that USAID would continue buying domestically, and his company has spent millions of dollars to ramp up production.

“Congress’ intent has been to buy American,” Povlacs said. “They put that in appropriations bills year after year.”

Povlacs said he is working with lawmakers to get “buy American” language restored in next year’s spending bill, and company officials are meeting with USAID this week.

A spokesman for Rep. Bobby Bright, a Democrat whose district is home to Alatech, said he also is exploring other avenues to help the firm.

Povlacs said the USAID work made up the bulk of his business, and he is faced with closing “within a matter of weeks.”

The a cappella ring tone features a professional singer chanting the word condom more than 50 times, a playful approach that public health activists hope will spark discussion and make condoms more socially acceptable.

“We’ve made a conscious effort to move the concept of the condom away from negative association, like HIV and sex work,” said Yvonne MacPherson, country director of BBC World Service Trust India. “Condoms are actually health products and if you have a condom and you use it, you are seen to be smart and responsible.”

Nearly 2.5 million people in India are infected with HIV and the disease is still largely taboo.

The BBC group, which is funded by The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, hopes the condom ring tone can make people in India more comfortable with safe sex issues.

More than 270 million people use mobile phones in India and ring tones, especially those featuring hit Bollywood songs, are extremely popular.

“A ring tone is a very public thing,” she said. “It’s a way to show you are a condom user and you don’t have any issues with it.”

The ring tone was launched Aug. 8 and has been downloaded 60,000 times, MacPherson said.