The NDP on Thursday introduced a private member's bill that would require manufacturers to declare all toxic ingredients on product labels.

MP Peter Julian, who represents Burnaby-New Westminster, said Bill 553 will allow consumers to make informed choices. Julian said the state of California and the European Union already require manufacturers to declare toxic chemicals on product labels.

"Consumers in California and consumers in Europe have the right to know; we're saying that consumers in Canada also need to have the right to know," Julian told a news conference Thursday.

Manufacturers who failed to declare toxic substances on product labels would be subject to fines or imprisonment, he said.

Julian noted that forcing companies to print the information on labels might motivate companies to use fewer toxic substances.

Mae Burrows, the executive director of the advocacy group Toxic Free Canada, said consumers should know about phthalates — a class of chemicals used in some plastic food packaging and soaps — in shampoos and carcinogens in pesticides.

Ottawa is reviewing the safety of 200 chemicals to determine whether they pose a risk to human health and the environment under its Chemical Management Plan.

The assessment thus far has ruled that greater precautions were necessary for newborns and infants in products containing bisphenol A. Accordingly, Ottawa announced a ban on the import and sale of polycarbonate baby bottles containing bisphenol A.