BRASILIA, Dec 4 (Reuters) - Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Thursday a ministerial meeting to advance the Doha world trade round was practically certain this month and could produce a breakthrough if there was political will.

"It's practically certain, it has to be," Amorim said about expectations World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy would call a meeting of ministers as early as next week.

"There has been some lateral thinking, some advances. There are uncertainties but they're manageable with political will," Amorim told Reuters in an interview.

Brazil has played a key role in the talks, attempting to forge a common front of developing countries in the so-called G20 group.

Previous efforts to wrap up the accord, which requires full consensus among the World Trade Organization's 153 members, became stuck on many countries' resistance to expose their farmers and major industrial sectors to more competition.

A ministerial meeting in July collapsed partly over disagreement between the United States and India over safeguards to protect domestic farmers from a flood of food imports.

Amorim said negotiators had explored other potential ways that could open the path to a solution on safeguards.

Regarding concerns the incoming U.S. administration may not back a trade deal agreed now, Amorim said it would be in President-elect Barack Obama's own interest to approve it.

"It's a powerful sign at a time of crisis and he doesn't have to make any concessions," he said.

"He's still above the lobbies, he can do it," Amorim said.

Only days after Brazil said it would question U.S anti-dumping duties on orange juice in a WTO dispute panel, Amorim said the government was also considering a similar move on U.S. import duties on ethanol.

"We're studying that," he said.

Brazil is the world's second-largest producer and largest exporter of ethanol, which it derives from sugarcane. It currently pays $0.54 per gallon in U.S. import duties.

A deal in the Doha round could help resolve such trade disputes -- including one Brazil won on U.S cotton subsidies earlier this year -- Amorim said.

"With a satisfactory accord, why should we want to fight?" Amorim said.

(Reporting by Raymond Colitt, Editing by Peter Cooney)