Failed plain packaging fight costs tobacco giant

Tobacco company Philip Morris has been ordered to pay the Federal Government millions of dollars in legal fees.

It comes after a six-year court battle to try to kill off the government's plain packaging laws.

The company argued the laws should either be scrapped or the government should pay them billions of dollars in damages.

But the bid failed and the court ruled Philip Morris was liable to pay the government's costs defending the laws.

The exact figure of the payment has been kept secret and is redacted in the decision published by the Permanent Court of Arbitration over the weekend.

Philip Morris had complained to the court the amount claimed by the government was "unreasonable" for a legal team that consisted primarily of public servants.

The company said it was far more than the costs claimed by other countries in similar cases, citing the Canadian Government, which has never claimed more than $US4.5 million, and the United States, which has never claimed more than $US3 million.

The tribunal rejected that.

"The tribunal does not consider that any of these costs claimed by the respondent were unreasonable," the decision stated.

"The tribunal also takes into consideration the significant stakes involved in this dispute … in particular the relevance of the outcome in respect of Australia's policies in matters of public health."