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Dutch ports on course for Brexit

Today Programme

BBC Radio 4

Container ship coming into the port of Rotterdam
AFP
Rotterdam is one of the ports which is getting ready for Brexit

Ports in the Netherlands are on course to continue operating smoothly after Brexit happens on 31 October, the BBC has been told.

Jeroen Nijland, the chairman of the Netherlands foreign investment agency, told the Today programme that preparations were going well.

"Our customs organisation is preparing for Brexit," he said.

"They are recruiting currently large numbers of people and that’s quite a challenge, but on the other hand the number of people they say, according to themselves, is sufficient for the first months after the Brexit."

Mr Nijland added that the trading relationship between Netherlands and the UK is a very important one.

"We have a very strong economic relationship with the UK, which is the second biggest destination for our exports, which are also badly affected by Brexit," he said.

"Brexit is not just about opportunities that companies are talking to us [about moving to the Netherlands], it is also detrimental to our exports."