Secrecy over costs in Philip Morris plain packaging case stokes TPP fears

The Australian government is fighting to keep secret the amount it paid to fight a legal battle with the tobacco industry over its plain packaging laws.

Philip Morris, a tobacco multinational, used a clause in a Hong Kong-Australia trade deal to sue the Australian government over its Gillard-era plain packaging laws.

It eventually lost the case, but the Nick Xenophon Team has since attempted to find out how much Australia paid to fight the case in The Hague.
NXT is concerned the newly-signed Trans-Pacific Partnership – which contains similar clauses to the Hong Kong deal – could prompt similar actions against the Australian government.

Source: theguardian