Russia has reportedly agreed to import apples from North Korea.

Russia’s state-run TASS news agency said on Monday that the two nations agreed to start deliveries of North Korean apples to the Russian market, quoting the press service of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Supervision. 

The report said that apples from North Korea can be freely supplied to Russia with a phytosanitary certificate confirming the absence of quarantine organisms in the goods.

The report did not mention the specific timing and scope of the import process.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Agriculture lowered its apple harvest forecast for 2024 from one-point-eight million to one-point-five million tons due to frost damage, and said it’s working with friendly countries on additional supplies of apples.