The intergovernmental meeting on the East Asian Seas Action Plan, held in Bangkok, 9-11 December 1981 formed a Co-ordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA, to serve as the overall authority to determine the content of the Action Plan to review its progress and approve its programme of implementation through periodic meetings of governments. In accordance with this decision, the third meeting of the COBSEA was convened by the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in Genting Highlands, Malaysia on the 5-6 April 1984.