In spite of the wide recognition that many plants possess insecticidal properties, only a handful of pest control products directly obtained from plants, i.e., botanical insecticides, are in use in developed countries. The demonstrated efficacy of the botanical neem (based on seed kernel extracts of Azadirachta indica), and its recent approval for use in the United States, has stimulated research and development of other botanical insecticides. However, the commercialization of new botanical insecticides can be hindered by a number of issues. The principal barriers to commercialization of new botanicals are (i) scarcity of the natural resource; (ii) standardization and quality control; and (iii) registration. These issues are no problem (i) or considerably less of a problem (ii, iii) with conventional insecticides. In this review I discuss these issues and suggest how the problems may be overcome in the future.