Canada is currently the only country in the Americas to which Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) can fly nonstop, but recent leaks from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) suggest that could change if the national flag carrier doesn’t start complying with Canadian customs reporting requirements. Anonymous sources within the CBSA have stated that the agency’s Advance Commercial Information (ACI) unit has determined that PIA is not in compliance with implementing regulations of §12(1) of the Canadian Customs Act, which deals with reporting of imported goods. The regulations require that airlines transmit cargo data for incoming flights to the CBSA via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) as a Conveyance Arrival Certification Message (CACM).

CBSA has notified PIA

The CBSA has notified PIA of the noncompliance in writing, but there’s no word from the airline on how it plans to respond. A CBSA official said off the record that the letter warned of delays and extra inspections for PIA cargo and threatened fines and eventual cancellation of its carrier code in the case of continued noncompliance. The source stated that the CBSA is already enforcing routine offloading slowdowns for PIA planes at Toronto, resulting in late deliveries of some shipments, and plans to step up the delays if compliance is not forthcoming.

The official also mentioned that a ban on direct flights is on the table and advised PIA to act on the problem quickly, noting that the carrier has been losing money in recent years and is not in a position to squander its only direct link to North America through lack of attention to the situation.

Homeland Security hasn’t granted approval

Pakistan International is unable to fly direct to the U.S. because the Department of Homeland Security hasn’t granted approval. The airline does have a flight to New York’s JFK airport that stops off in Manchester, UK, for about three hours on the way. However, PIA passengers and cargo have been able to travel nonstop between the Pakistani cities of Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad and Toronto, which is home to a sizable Pakistani population.