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Agriculture Department director-general Somchai Charnnarongkul said any shipment found containing proscribed insects or plant disease would be immediately rejected. Many types of insects and disease have been found on imported fresh fruits and vegetables that can damage Thai crops.

In addition, traders and exporters are required to apply for sanitary certification. Inspection and certification requirements are based on the World Trade Organisation's Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement.

Somchai said his department issued 267,014 export-quality certifications last year and expected to issue another 260,000 this year. - The Nation

  Local-currency bonds

Toyota Leasing (Thailand), the local unit of Toyota Motor, plans to sell as much as Bt4 billion worth of local-currency bonds this month, to raise funds for expansion.

The bonds, part of a Bt30-billion medium-term note programme backed by Toyota Motor Finance (Netherlands), will have maturities of no more than three years, Bangkok Bank vice president Thanapol Chumjai said late last week.

Bangkok Bank and co-manager Kasikornbank will complete the sale on February 25, he said, declining to say what coupon the notes will pay.

Toyota Leasing joins Thai Oil and Thai Tap Water in selling local-currency bonds as Thai benchmark interest rates fall. Borrowers are turning to the bond market for funding as banks tighten lending rules and the stock market slumps, limiting access to equity capital. - Bloomberg

  Valentine's Day texting

Total Access Communication (DTAC) customers sent 9 million SMSs on Valentine's Day last Saturday, up 5.88 per cent from 8.5 million sent on the same day last year.

The number of multimedia messages (MMSs) sent by DTAC customers on Valentine's Day increased a slight 1.54 per cent, from 650,000 last year to 660,000 this year.

DTAC customers on average send 3 million SMSs and 90,000 MMSs a day.

Advanced Info Service customers sent 12 million SMSs on Valentine's Day this year, up 19 per cent from last year, while MMSs numbered 800,000, up 48 per cent. - The Nation