As the weather cools off, a nice cheese platter with a glass of scotch whisky by the fire might sound appealing to some.

With the cost of living getting out of hand, splurging on British stilton is probably off the shopping list.

But with the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement coming into effect this week, it'll be cheaper to splurge on some of those luxury imported goods.

The deal removes all tariffs on UK exports to Australia.

In the case of cheese, duties of up to 20 per cent will be slashed.

That amounts to $1.60 per kilogram to the cost of product at retail.

London-based Neal's Yard Dairy is an artisanal cheese retailer and exporter.

Sales director Yvonne Yeoh admits while it is hard to put a dollar value on how the free trade deal will impact future sales, their cheeses have been well supported by Australian customers.

"Cornish Kern, Bath Stilton and an Irish style Gouda; these cheeses have all done well and have been able to withstand some of the more rigorous transportation issues of getting cheese from quite a big distance," she said.

"In the last year we've expanded into what we call the British territorials, which are hard cheeses named after the area where they were made, and that's got us really excited."

What about washing cheese down with a glass of Scotch whisky?

There are about 140 distilleries in Scotland and a large number of those export to Australia, its 12th largest market.

The 5 per cent tariff on those whisky imports have now been removed.

So that knocks $5 off the price of a $100 bottle of Scotch.

It's not a huge discount, but the Scotch Whisky Association's Emily Roads expects it will still drive sales.

"We see quite a lot of opportunities with the new FTA," she said.

"That was up 42 per cent, so we have seen consistent growth through the pandemic."

She says the deal is not just about exporting more product but forging closer ties with the Australian whisky industry.

"So that's around good regulatory policy that supports responsible consumption, that drives sustainability and delivers a unique product for consumers," she said.

What do Brits think about their deal ?

It's the first new free trade agreement negotiated from scratch for the UK since Brexit.

Australia is pretty small fry compared to other non-EU trading partners.

Just 1.7 per cent of all UK exports head to Australia.

The FTA will cut tariffs and increase quotas on a range of Australian exports like beef, lamb, seafood and wine.

Andrew Brown is a farmer based at Rutland in the centre of England.

His family has been farming in the area for the past 300 years.

He says it will be difficult to compete with cheaper red meat imports at a time where farmers are under pressure to convert to more environmentally sustainable systems.

"I think the costs in Australia are a lot less than they are in this country," Mr Brown said.

"I've got nothing against Australian farmers; they're just trying to survive just as we are.

Slow burn for Aussie meat exports

Derrick Wilkinson is a semi-retired economist in the UK, with more than 30 years' experience in agriculture and trade policy.

He thinks it is unlikely the UK will be flooded with red meat imports, partly because Australia is a long way off from even filling its existing quota for beef and lamb.

"Producers from Australia and New Zealand, which is the other agreement that's coming into effect, have got major growing markets already in South-East Asia," Mr Wilkinson said.

"It's the relative attractiveness of markets that'll shift."

Andrew McDonald, chair of the Australia-UK Red Meat Market Access Taskforce, agrees with that assessment.

Australian beef exporters will initially have access to a 35,000-tonne duty-free quota.

Last year they landed 741 tonnes of beef in the UK.

Lamb exported to the UK has been much higher.

In 2022, Australia sent close to 9,000 tonnes of lamb, compared to its competitor New Zealand which sent nearly 33,000 tonnes.

Australia will have immediate access to a duty-free quota of 25,000 tonnes of lamb.

Australia's biggest prize is landing a deal with the European Union.

On that deal, Trade Minister Don Farrell says, "Australia will only agree to a trade deal that is in our national interest, and that involves new meaningful market access for our high-quality agricultural products."