The Contracting Parties shall apply the precautionary principle, i.e., to take preventive measures when there is reason to assume that substances or energy introduced, directly or indirectly, into the marine environment may create hazards to human health, harm living resources and marine ecosystems, damage amenities or interfere with other legitimate uses of the sea even when there is no conclusive evidence of a causal relationship between inputs and their alleged effects.
Pogodbenice uporabljajo previdnostno načelo, kar pomeni, da sprejmejo preventivne ukrepe, kadar obstaja razlog za domnevo, da lahko snovi ali energija, neposredno ali posredno vnesene v morsko okolje, ogrozijo zdravje ljudi, škodujejo živim virom in morskim ekosistemom, zmanjšajo rekreacijsko vrednost ali ovirajo drugo zakonito uporabo morja, tudi kadar ni trdnega dokaza o vzročnem odnosu med vnosi in njihovimi domnevnimi učinki.