Once the conditions established in the articles of the Protocol have been met, 30 days after ratification by the 26th Contracting Party – Mexico – the 1996 Protocol has entered into force, ratified by Spain in March 1999 and which constitutes a milestone in the protection of the marine environment on a global scale, by regulating the use of the sea as a deposit of materials in a more restrictive way than has been done until now. This Protocol includes in its geographical scope, the waters, the seabed and the subsoil of all seas, leaving it to the free choice of the States to include internal waters in its scope of application.

The 1996 Protocol constitutes a more up-to-date and comprehensive framework for the overall protection of the marine environment than the original London Convention of 1972, including the principles emanating from Agenda 21 and the Global Plan for Sustainable Development of the Summit on Development and the Environment held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992.