MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UK appoints Lord David Evans Trade Envoy to Brazil, completing the Mercosur round of countries

Lord David Evans of Sealand, the UK Trade Envoy to Brazil

The Secretary of State for Business and Trade has appointed Lord David Evans of Sealand as the UK Trade Envoy to Brazil. With this latest appointment all Mercosur countries now have Trade Envoys, since Fabian Hamilton MP, figures before Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. Likewise with Lord Roger Liddle for the Andean countries including Chile.

UK Trade Envoys are appointed by the Business and Trade Secretary to drive UK economic growth through exports and investment. They are tasked with identifying trade and investment opportunities for businesses and championing the UK as a destination of choice for investment in their respective markets, working closely with the Department for Business and Trade.

UK’s Trade Envoy programme is a network of parliamentarians integral to supporting the government’s growth mission for growth by providing additional international trade and investment support to ministers.

There are 31 Trade Envoys covering 79 markets across 6 continents who engage on substantial trade opportunities identified by government.

They will play a crucial role in supporting the Department for Business and Trade’s growth priorities, in particular through helping deliver the industrial and trade strategies and attracting foreign direct investment to every region in the UK. They complement the work of our Ambassadors, High Commissioners and His Majesty’s Trade Commissioners in their respective markets by: engaging with their host governments; leading trade delegations; hosting inward delegations; meeting businesses in the UK; in market and lobbying on market access issues.

They do this by building relationships in market and working with UK businesses. The programme has been running since 2012 and was previously called the Prime Minister’s Trade Envoy program, but this was re-named in 2025. The new title creates commonality between government Envoy roles and reflects the Envoys’ duties in representing the whole United Kingdom.

Membership of the program is cross party from both the House of Commons and House of Lords. The role is voluntary and unpaid.