GUANGZHOU: Exports of Cantonese-style mooncakes are set to disappear behind a dark cloud this year.

The popular delicacies, a traditional gift during the Mid-Autumn festival, could be hit hard following a ban in the United States on mooncakes that contain meat, poultry or yolk.

"And other foreign countries and regions, including the European Union, Japan, Canada and Australia, have also introduced their own trade barriers and strict examination standards to ban and reduce importing mooncakes this year," the Guangzhou-based Nanfang Daily quoted an official from the Guangzhou chamber of commerce as saying.