The Herald reports that David Jordan, admitted that the Celtic Accord, which will tie the unions together for the next four years remains unsigned.
With the SRU's Gordon McKie, Steve Lewis of the WRU, and the IRFU's Phillip Browne all having been around the table, all major obstacles are now out of the way.
"The three Celtic unions have agreed the Celtic Accord and a range of other issues," Jordan said. "All that remians are a few technical issues with Celtic rugby's broadcast partners."
Magners, the cider producers, are expected to confirm soon that they will be the competition's first title sponsors, which could involve it being rebranded as the Celtic Championship.
That would seem to be the ideal time to introduce at least limited play-offs for next season if it was not for the proximity to the World Cup, which will mean that schedules are already heavily congested for the leading players.
It is expected thet, when the fixture list is finalised, the Scottish teams will be playing a minimum of eight games each on Friday nights.