BEIJING – More than 30 countries refuse to allow Chinese mooncakes sent through the mail to pass their borders, essentially banning the delicacy which symbolizes the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated by the Chinese globally.

This year'a Mid-Autumn Festival falls on Sept 12. But many Chinese found themselves unable to mail the traditional cakes to their relatives or friends living in those countries due to the bans.

Thirty-four countries already refuse the entry of mooncakes sent by post and another 30-plus countries have established rigid checks for mooncakes to pass through, according to entry-exit inspection and quarantine bureaus in Fujian and Guangdong provinces, home towns of the majority of Chinese people living overseas.

Those countries have strict inspection standards for imported food, especially for stuffed baked goods like mooncakes, said Wu Shuo, an official with the Inspection and Quarantine Bureau in Zhongshan city of Guangdong, on Sept 9. Zhongshan is a major production base of Guangdong-style mooncakes.

The list of countries that refuse mooncakes sent by post includes Asian, European, American and African nations, ranging from Germany and France to the Philippines and Sudan, where tens of thousands of Chinese live.

The ban on posted mooncakes is the result of different food inspection standards. For example, Europe has a stricter standard on aflatoxins than China, said Wu Shuo.

Peng Peng, a researcher with the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, however, believes the inspection systems of foreign countries are not fully equipped to examine mooncakes.

Many countries have established strict food inspection systems, but they probably can not properly examine mooncakes, which are unique to China, Peng said.

In some countries, the postal ban has not affected the import of mooncakes.

"We can still buy mooncakes in Manila, and most of them are imported from the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong," said Zhuang Mingdeng, a senior editor of a Chinese-language newspaper in the Philippines.

Wu Shuo said quarantine authorities in Zhongshan have scrutinized the raw materials and additives in mooncakes in order to ensure that the mooncakes could be safely exported.

Mooncakes are traditional gifts for beloved ones and are necessities for the Mid-Autumn Festival. The round mooncakes resemble the full moon, a symbol of family reunion in traditional Chinese culture as well as the major theme of theMid-Autumn Festival.

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