[8] The first customs union in the area was established in 1889 between the British Cape Colony and the Boer republic of the Orange Free State.

An attempt was made in 1949 to re-establish a customs union between South Africa and Southern Rhodesia, but it ultimately failed to do so.

Paulina Mbala Elago, a Namibian national, became executive secretary on 1 April 2014 for a period of five years.

Only the BLNS Member states' shares are calculated, with South Africa retaining the residual.

With this in mind, the Ministers of Trade and Industry of the five member states met in Pretoria on 11 November 1994 to discuss the renegotiation of the 1969 agreement.

CUTT has met on numerous occasions in the member states, and declares that good progress has been made in the renegotiation process.

The institutional administrative structure of the revenue pool was agreed as follows: SACU ministers further agreed that the revenue share accruing to each member state should be calculated from three basic components: By agreement, these components would be distributed as follows: While SACU entered into a free trade deal with the four-nation European Free Trade Association on 1 July 2006, its negotiations with the United States for a free trade agreement have stalled (as of 8 January 2008).

De Gucht replied that he would like to "invite the SADC EPA countries concerned to swiftly complete signature, notification and implementation of the interim EPA" and that "in the meantime, the EU is more than willing to address all pending issues and concerns.