At present the Super 14 follows a league format with the top four progressing directly to the semi finals. A new, longer playoff schedule would pave the way towards adding more teams to the competition potentially as early as 2010.
Expansion could involve teams from the Pacific Islands, Japan, North America and Argentina.
"It was acknowledged that significant changes to the existing Super rugby format would have an impact on the traditional Tri-Nations window utilised by SANZAR countries and may impact on other areas of the international schedule," a statement from SANZAR said.
"Alternatives to the current test schedule and the timing of international matches remain, like Super rugby expansion, a work in progress."
The South African, New Zealand and Australian Rugby unions board will forward the proposal to each of the individual union's boards for ratification, the organisation said in a statement .
