About Us
WHAT WE DO

We are a customs and trade law firm established by Roy Delbyck in Hong Kong in 1993, representing clients across the supply chain – from factories to trading companies to selling agents and buying agents to importers (wholesalers and retailers).

We are best known for our work in the US customs area but we also assist clients on importation and exportation issues with respect to markets other than the US, working with local counsel in those markets as needed.


WHO WE ARE

The firm is registered as a foreign law firm with the Law Society of Hong Kong and consists of Roy Delbyck and two paralegals, Tracy Heung and Peggy Ma, who have worked with Roy for over twenty years. Tracy and Peggy are both Hong Kong natives.

Roy was born and raised in the United States, receiving his B.A. from Connecticut College where he studied Chinese and his law degree from the University of California, Davis where he was a co-Managing Editor of the UC Davis Law Review. Roy is a member of the California Bar. Before going out on his own, Roy was a partner in the Hong Kong office of Baker & McKenzie and an associate in the San Francisco and Hong Kong offices of Graham & James.

Between college and law school, Roy worked in administrative and QC positions in the Hong Kong and Taiwan buying offices of a US importer. Roy draws on this commercial experience in his representation of supply-chain clients.

Roy has written and spoken widely on customs and trade issues in Hong Kong, China and the United States.


AFFILIATION

We are affiliated with the US firm of Keesal, Young & Logan (website: http://www.kyl.com/), which is based in Long Beach, California and has offices in San Francisco, Seattle and Anchorage. Keesal, Young & Logan is known for its expertise in maritime and transportation matters as well as securities work and commercial litigation.


COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

Roy is on the Council of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong and a Board Director of the Museum of Chinese in America located in New York City. Previously, Roy served as a Vice-President and Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

Roy is an avid collector of ephemera concerning the history of Hong Kong and China and has given presentations in Hong Kong, the US and China about his collection. He is a member of the Hong Kong Collectors Society.

Representative Assignments
NEGOTIATING COMMERCIAL AGREEMENTS

Sourcing-related agreements, such as buying agency and sales agency agreements, distribution contracts, master sourcing agreements, license agreements

We have represented many of the leading buying agents, based in Hong Kong and elsewhere, not only in advising on their agency agreements with their principals but also counseling them on activities permissible for buying agents to engage in from a customs perspective.


ANALYZING TRADE DOCUMENTATION

Purchase orders and sales orders, invoices, proofs of payment, bills of lading and FCRs, certificates of origin, GSP certificates, Entry Summaries, among other documents


DEALING WITH GOVERNMENT AGENCIES

Answering inquiries, such as CF-28s/CF-29s and audit inquiries from US Customs

Submitting protests to obtain duty refunds and disclosures to avoid penalties where there has been non-compliance

Preparing submissions to fight detentions and exclusions of goods

Miscellaneous dealings with government departments and agencies (e.g., Hong Kong Trade and Industry Department, Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, US Customs and US Consumer Product Safety Commission)


TRACKING PROPOSED AND ENACTED LEGISLATION AND ADMINISTRATIVE ACTIONS THAT IMPACT SOURCING

We keep tabs on such legislation and administrative actions arising in the US, China, Canada, the EU and elsewhere. Recent examples would be US legislation and administrative actions concerning forced labor and Chinese legislation countering the imposition of foreign sanctions.


ANALYZING THE IMPACT OF BILATERAL AND MULTILATERAL FREE TRADE AGREEMENTS

USMCA (United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement) and RCEP (Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership) are but two examples

Often, we are asked to consider the preferential origin rules under these agreements from the perspective of how much non-beneficiary country labor and inputs will be allowed without affecting zero duty or reduced duty benefits.


ADVISING ON STRATEGIES TO LAWFULLY REDUCE CUSTOMS DUTIES (NORMAL DUTIES AND SPECIAL DUTIES SUCH AS THE US SECTION 301 TARIFFS)

First sale

Alternative bases of product classifcation

Relocating origin-conferring processes to jurisdictions with lower duty rates

Changing the basis of sale from FOB Asia to LDP or DDP customer's warehouse in the export market


ADVISING ON BEST SOURCING PRACTICES

Including "mid-course" adjustments where sourcing programs may need to be updated to reflect new legal requirements


DEALING WITH INSOLVENT AND/OR BANKRUPT CUSTOMERS

We have recently advised vendors hit by retailer bankruptcies in the US, as well as insolvency proceedings in Canada and the UK.


COUNSELING ON COMMERCIAL DISPUTES

Quality claims, late shipments, non-payments and chargebacks and infringing goods

Negotiating settlements


News
Roy was named as one of the world's leading customs and trade lawyers in Who's Who Legal: Trade and Customs 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Roy was the sole speaker on First Sale and DDP Sales on October 29, 2020 to various industry associations, including the Hong Kong Knitwear Exporters & Manufacturers Association Ltd.

Roy was the sole speaker on Chapter 11 Proceedings in the U.S. on August 14, 2020 to the Hong Kong Intimate Apparel Industries' Association.

Roy spoke on the Sino-US trade war on January 17, 2019 at a conference organized by Intertek Hong Kong.

On the collection front, Roy was interviewed about his collection in a Zoom presentation given on March 19, 2022 to the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong and was profiled in the South China Morning Post Sunday Magazine on October 8, 2022.

For a video recording of the presentation, please go to:
Why I Need to Collect

Contact Us
LAW OFFICES OF ROY IAN DELBYCK
Room 929 Star House, 3 Salisbury Road, Tsimshatsui, Kowloon, Hong Kong
Tel: (852) 2810-5777
Fax: (852) 2810-5288
Email: roydelbyck@delbycklawoffices.com
Website: www.delbycklawoffices.com