More than a century ago, a few successful pest control attempts through the intentional import and release of insects, opened the way for the practice of biological control. Since then, the shipment of beneficial insects within and between continents became common practice and was solely based on informal arrangements between researchers and practitioners. However, over the last three decades, worldwide there has been an increased awareness of both perceived and real environmental risks potentially posed by biological control agents. Consequently, countries around the world started implementing legislations and regulations regarding biological control, although most of the time only indirectly via other legislations, such as those concerning plant health, pesticides or the environment. Here we describe the development and key events that influenced the transition from the early days of biological control without regulations, to the implementation of national policies and the more recent attempts for regional and worldwide harmonization of regulations. Because most legislations and regulations regarding biological control concern all environments, we present here a very general overview and include examples from forestry where appropriate. Through the course of historical events and changing views on environmental issues, value of natural resources and pest control, biological control faced many challenges. While researchers and practitioners currently have to navigate through a jungle of policies, biological control is now in the spotlight again as an environmentally sound tool to tackle plant pests and diseases. Certain policies continue to impede biological control in some countries, but some can also be regarded as crucial instruments to improve this pest control method and consequently its application as a powerful and safe practice.