India and the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) signed the Terms of Reference (ToR) for negotiations towards a Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) on August 12, 2026, at Vanijya Bhawan in New Delhi. This signing represents a significant milestone in formalizing trade engagement between India and the SACU Member States, marking India's first ToR signing with the African region.
Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal emphasized the need for a balanced, fair, and equitable trade agreement that can help diversify markets and create opportunities for both sides. He highlighted India's potential role in supplying affordable medicines, supporting IT talent development in the SACU region, and helping integrate SACU countries into global supply chains in areas where their businesses are competitive. Goyal noted that the negotiations seek to provide preferential market access to an established commercial relationship with significant complementarities in engineering goods and machinery, automobiles, pharmaceuticals, textiles, agriculture, and agri-processing.
Commerce Secretary Rajesh Agrawal specified that the PTA negotiations will cover eight important chapters: trade in goods and market access for goods; rules of origin and origin procedures; customs procedures and trade facilitation; trade remedies including a bilateral safeguard mechanism; sanitary and phytosanitary measures; technical barriers to trade; dispute settlement; and legal and horizontal provisions. He noted SACU's significance as the oldest customs union in the world.
Ndiitah Nghipondoka-Robiati, Executive Director of Namibia's Ministry of International Relations and Trade, welcomed the ToR signing as providing structure, transparency, and predictability to forthcoming negotiations. She emphasized SACU's attachment to an outcome that balances different development levels among parties, particularly addressing the interests and development needs of SACU Member States including Least Developed Countries and Small and Vulnerable Economies. She highlighted India's importance as a strategic partner and pillar of South-South cooperation through trade, investment, capacity building, and development cooperation.
The ceremony was attended by Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Jitin Prasada, senior Indian government officials, and the SACU delegation. The agreement reflects shared commitment to advance mutually beneficial trade relations and lays the foundation for negotiations toward a balanced, mutually beneficial, and development-oriented PTA.