Vendors selling live chickens in local markets must make it clear where the poultry was raised, according to a new rule issued by the Shanghai Industrial and Commercial Administrative Bureau.

Consumers are told to avoid stalls that don't have a sign stating where live chickens were raised, to prevent buying birds from avian-flu hit regions.

The virus has been reported in seven parts of China — the provinces of Hunan, Anhui, Hubei, Liaoning and Shanxi, as well as the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.

Vendors also must sign documents ensuring the quality of their chickens, that they won't sell sick or dead birds, and that they didn't buy the poultry from illegal sources.

Any birds that die in markets must be handed over to quarantine officials.

(Shanghai Daily November 21, 2005)