Not exactly, but it is an improvement over current legislation.
From The Garbage Revolution by Dennis L. Bryant:
In IMO’s official summary of the 62nd session of Marine Environment Protection Committee (MEPC), which occurred on 11-15 July 2011, adoption of the revised MARPOL Annex V (garbage) merited only three sentences – and the revolutionary provision was reported in the following phrase: “the inclusion of a new requirement specifying that discharge of all garbage into the sea is prohibited, except as expressly provided otherwise”. The import of this phrase was not discussed in the IMO report, or in any report that I have seen issued by IMO member states or maritime organizations that closely follow IMO developments.
This revision, which comes into effect on 1 January 2013, represents the official adoption of the precautionary principle into the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution Sea by Ships (MARPOL Convention). The precautionary principle (also referred to as the precautionary approach) was previously incorporated into the London Dumping Convention by means of the 1996 Protocol. As stated in that Protocol, the precautionary approach is intended to take preventative measures 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 relationship between the inputs and their effects.
In other words, the precautionary principle reverses the burden of proof so that the proponent of discharging a certain type of material must now prove that such discharge will not cause harm to the marine environment.
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