The fifth volume of this Yearbook follows very much in the pattern established by the third (1987) and continued in the fourth (1988) volumes. Two-thirds of the book is devoted to documents emanating from the United Nations and related organizations (the FAO, IAEA, ILO, IMO, UNCTAD, UNEP, UNESCO/IOC and WMO). The remainder is shared by six other inter-governmental organizations, the Asian-African Legal Consultative Committee (AALCC), the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean), the Caribbean Community (CARICOM), the Indian Ocean Marine Affairs Co-operations Conference (IOMAC), the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and the South Pacific Forum (SPF). The relevant documentation of each body that is not reproduced is listed.

The United Nations General Assembly documents include the Annual Report of the Secretary-General concerning the Law of the Sea and the principal Resolutions adopted. It is, perhaps, a pity that the Report of the Secretary-General on the Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment (A/44/461) was not also included, although the reality of constraints on space, emphasized by the editors, must be acknowledged. The ECOSOC is