The Protocol is intended to replace the 1972 Convention and is much more restrictive. It represents a major change of approach to the question of how to regulate the use of the sea as a depository for waste materials. One of the most important innovations is to introduce (in Article 3) the "precautionary approach". This requires that "appropriate preventative measures are taken when there is reason to believe that wastes or other matter introduced into the marine environment are likely to cause harm even when there is no conclusive evidence to prove a causal relation between inputs and their effects". The article also states that "the polluter should, in principle, bear the cost of pollution" and it emphasizes that Contracting Parties should ensure that the Protocol should not simply result in pollution being transferred from one part of the environment to another.