After graduating from Gymnasium is studied Chemical Engineering at the Technical University at Eindhoven where I graduated in 1975. I’ve worked for 8 years as a research developer for a pharmaceutical company in the Netherlands.
In 1984 I joint the Customs Laboratory as a manager of analytical development team. During my work there I studied Tax- en Customs Law at the University of Leiden where a graduated in 1993.
In 1994 I became a managing director at one of the customs offices in the Rotterdam Port Area and in 1999 head of the Information management at the Customs District office in Rotterdam.

During that time I worked closely with the Port Authority of Rotterdam and Port Infolink to establish a port community system in Rotterdam. In 2008 I became a Master in Information Management from the Newport Business Academy.

Since 2010 I work almost full time on the implementation of a Single Window for Trade and Transport in the Netherlands. From 2012 as the deputy project manager for the TEN-T AnNa-project. In this EU-funded project 14 EU Member States work together on the implementation of harmonised and simplified administrative procedures applied to maritime transport. By rationalising the reporting formalities, and standardising the electronic transmission hereof for ships arriving in and departing from, European Seaports a high level of facilitation can be achieved. The goal of the project is to establish one maritime single window in each Member State, which receives electronic the rationalised reporting formalities used by all authorities in a harmonised electronic format.