The threat of non-native invasive species poses a significant risk to global biodiversity and food security, resulting in substantial economic losses every year. This risk has been exacerbated by the growth of global trade, tourism, and climate change. In recent years, there has been a notable rise in the invasion of countries by insect pest species. Many of these insect pests (e.g., brown marmorated stink bug, fall armyworm, spotted lanternfly) are highly polyphagous and pose significant biosecurity risks to agricultural and horticultural industries worldwide. Biological control is a recognized and commonly used strategy for managing populations of invasive insect pests and has often proved highly cost effective. It involves using natural enemies of the target pest to permanently control its populations to less damaging levels. However, biological control programmes are traditionally initiated once a pest has established, during which time pest impacts accelerate. A pre-emptive biocontrol approach provides an opportunity to implement biological control for invasive pests prior to their arrival in the country at risk of introduction. For example, the implementation of a pre-emptive approach to classical biocontrol would make the selection, screening, and pre-approval for release of most suitable natural enemies possible in advance of a pest invasion. This novel approach can enhance responses against invasive pests by allowing the immediate implementation of a biological control approach (i.e., classical, augmentative or conservation) following the arrival of a pest in a new area. Consequently, adopting a pre-emptive biocontrol strategy could lead to a significant decrease in pest population densities and rates of spread during the early stages of an invasion, thereby reducing both environmental and economic impacts. This presentation will aim to highlight the importance of pre-emptive biocontrol as a key tool to enhance preparedness against high-risk pests and will provide with some recent examples of pre-emptive biocontrol projects.